


Small Town

by ifzi0531



Series: Small Town [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Based on Everwood (TV Series), Character Death, Gen, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-09-11
Packaged: 2017-12-10 19:20:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 111,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifzi0531/pseuds/ifzi0531
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <img/></p>
</div> <p> </p><p> </p><div class="center">
  <p>Niall is the town’s <b>sweetheart</b>. Everybody loves him.</p>
</div><div class="center">
  <p>Zayn is the <b>newbie</b> in town, along with his <b>little brother</b>, Harry.</p>
</div><div class="center">
  <p>Louis and Liam are the <b>jocks</b> of the town.</p>
  <div class="center">
    <p>Somehow, they crossed paths and their lives are never going to be the same again.</p>
  </div>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Newbies in town

**Author's Note:**

> The dialogues of this chapter are credited to a tv series called 'Everwood.' In fact, the whole chapter is inspired by the first episode of the series. The rest of the story will go along mostly similar to the series (maybe) or maybe I will change it with my own ideas. But credit to 'Everwood' anyway. Cheers and enjoy! :D

“Moving where?” Zayn raises his voice in frustration. 

“Mullingar, Ireland.” His father says. 

“Where’s that?” Harry asks innocently.

“Ireland, you moron!” Zayn replies bitterly as he snaps his head to the left and glares at Harry. He turns to look at his father and starts to speak again. “Okay, well why are we moving there?” 

“Somebody told me about it once. They said it was the most beautiful place they’d seen. It’s on this hill, or is it a mountain? Maybe it’s on a hill by a mountain. Anyway, I was thinking last night that we should move there. What do you say?” His father explains and asks his sons. 

“I say that’s not even a reason!” Zayn retorts. 

“I know! How great is that? We’re moving to some place with no reason at all.” His father says excitedly making Zayn becomes angrier. Has his father gone insane? 

“That’s not great! That’s crazy!” Zayn fights back. 

“You say crazy. I say it might be the sanest thing I’ve ever done.” His father says and pauses. “Now, I want this to be a democratic decision so we’re gonna vote.” He adds. “Everyone who wants to move and get their own horse, raise your hand.” 

And as expected, of course Harry raises his hand, he fucking wants a horse since he was 10 years old. Zayn watches in disbelief as his father and Harry raises their hands together. 

“Democratic?! You bought his vote!” 

“Yeah, that’s the American version.” His dad says and turns to walk away leaving Zayn with a dumfounded look and Harry who sits beside him silently. 

Zayn turns to face Harry and points his finger at his younger brother. “I want you to remember this. This is the moment you conspired with a psycho to ruin whatever was left of our pathetic little lives!” Zayn says before he stands up and goes to his room, slamming the door shut. 

** 

Harry stands nervously besides Zayn as they walk together into the entrance of the school. Zayn looks at his younger brother and sighs. Harry is always being the nervous one especially when he is in the new place. Zayn shakes his head when he thinks about why on earth his father didn’t consider about Harry when he decided to move to this little town. Zayn wraps his arm around his younger brother and gives him an assurance smile. “It’ll be fine, Hazza. Just tell me if anything happens, yeah. I’ll see you at 3 o’clock, okay?” Zayn says and Harry nods at his older brother. They go separate ways to their classes. 

Zayn is walking passes through a group of people when one of them teases him about his hair color. “Nice hair color.” Zayn heard one of the boys mock his hair. Yes, he dyed his black hair with some blonde streaks, so what? Zayn chooses to ignore them when the other one joins his friend to tease him too. “Hey, freak. What’s with the hair, man? They run out of the blonde at the store?” Zayn keeps walking and ignoring them when two of them start to follow him. “Hey you. My friend is talking to you. Where’s your manner?” 

Zayn sighs as he turns around to face the nuisances. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand him. You see, I don’t speak dumb-ass. But since you obviously do, maybe you could translate for me.” Zayn says, leaving the nuisances speechless and Zayn turns around with a small smirk on his face. 

**

“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand him. You see, I don’t speak dumb-ass. But since you obviously do, maybe you could translate for me.” 

Niall chuckles as soon as he heard that comment. Well, sometimes he wonders why he hangs out with these people that he calls friend. He watches as the new kid leaves and walks towards the school hallway and Niall decided to catch up with the new kid. 

“Hey.” Niall calls as he finally reaches behind the new kid. 

The new kid seems shocked and replies with a short “hey”. 

“You were bold out there.” Niall starts the conversation. 

“Oh it was just a strategy really.” 

“Strategy?” Niall raises his eyebrows in confusion. 

“I find it best when dealing with any unfamiliar bully to strike early with sarcasm.” Zayn explains. He doesn’t know why his mouth cannot keep shut as he stares at the blonde kid besides him. The kid has the bluest eyes that Zayn had ever seen and his smile is nice. And his lips.. _okay Zayn, stop._

Niall laughs and shakes his head. “Were they that horrible in London?” Niall asks. 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “How’d you know I was from London?” 

“The new doctor that just moved here. He’s your father, right?” Niall asks. 

Zayn nods half-heartedly, answering Niall’s question. 

“Well, he’s all anyone can talk about here.” Niall says. 

“Yeah? What do they say?” 

Niall shrugs. “Mostly they just wander why he came.” 

“If they figure it out, let me know.” Zayn replies. 

Niall stops walking and stares at Zayn before he smiles. “You really don’t know why you came here?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Whacked, I know.” 

“I think it’s wild. Sometimes I wonder if my dad’s the most boring man alive.” Niall says sincerely. 

The bell rings and Niall sighs internally. He really loves to talk with the new kid because he looks like he listens and he also looks like a model from some modeling show that Niall used to see before. The new kid’s eyelashes is long, complimenting his brown eyes and his cheekbones…okay, stop dreaming, Niall! 

“There’s the bell. I should go now. But we should eat lunch sometimes.” Niall says before he walks towards the direction of his class. 

Zayn is frozen for a moment before he starts speaking again. “Wait!” Zayn calls. 

Niall turns around and smiles and at that moment, Zayn knows that his heart had fallen with the smile already. “What’s your name?” 

“Niall.” He smiles. “And I like your hair.” Niall says before he turns around. 

Zayn watches as Niall leaves and smiles. First day in school and he already found himself smitten with a hot blondie. 

**

Zayn wraps his arms around himself as he feels the cold air. Niall walks fast in front of him and Zayn couldn’t help but to fast his pace to match Niall’s. “We’re almost there.” Niall announces. “I told you, you’re gonna love this place.” Niall says enthusiastically. 

“Yeah.” Zayn mutters. “I’d love it even more if it were indoors.” He adds. 

Niall ignores Zayn’s comment and stops walking. “Okay, you ready?” Niall asks. “Look.” Niall points as he turns to watch the scenery in front of his eyes. Zayn follows Niall’s gaze. “You can see the whole town from here. “ Niall says as he starts to explain about the town to Zayn. Zayn couldn’t help but stares at Niall as the blonde one keeps explaining about the town.

They found the nearest bench and sat together to watch the scenery. A few moments later, Niall starts to speak up. 

“So did your dad really work on a king?” 

“He was just a prince at the time, but yes.” 

“What’s it like? Having a dad who’s famous?” 

Zayn scoffs. “It’s like this. You’re 8 years old. He misses your birthday party. You want to cry about it but he’s on TV that night for separating the heads of Siamese twins. You’re 10. He’s not there to see you in the school play. He is however in New York Times for restoring a vision of 5-year-old kid. You know the prince that you mentioned? I think of him as my dad’s excuse for missing my elementary-school graduation. You want to be mad at him, you want to hate him. But you can’t. He’s saving lives.” 

Niall nods as Zayn finishes. Zayn looks at Niall for a moment before he starts to speak again. “Niall, why are you talking to me?” 

“What?” Niall tilts his head to look at Zayn and scrunches his nose in confusion. 

“Where I come from, boys like you don’t breathe around guys like me without having some sort of secret agenda.” 

“Mine’s world domination.” Niall replies cheekily. 

“Seriously. I mean..you seem like you have enough friends. Why you go out of your way to make me feel welcome?”

“You’ve got kind of a tragic lonely thing going on.” Niall says. “I dig it.” Both of them fall into silence before they laugh out loud at the lame joke from Niall. 

**

Louis watches as his younger brother walks and laughs with the new kid. Louis hides himself behind the wall to make sure that his younger brother doesn’t see him and waits until the new kid parts with his brother. 

“Dad’s gonna skin your ass when he finds out you’re hanging out with that kid.” Louis says when his younger brother stands in front of him. 

“Well, yeah. Dad’s not finding out because you’re not telling him.” Niall warns him. 

“Oh, aren’t I?” 

“No. Not if you value that collection of porn stashed on our computer. What was the file name again? Oh yeah, _‘favorite biblical passages’_.” Niall says and smirks smugly before he heads towards his classroom, leaving Louis with his mouth hangs open. 

**

Zayn opens his locker to find a little note from Niall to meet him after class and Zayn smiles happily before he stuffs the note into his pocket. So when the time comes, Zayn walks towards the ski rinks and looks around to find Niall. 

He is about to walk around again when he heard someone talks to him.

“Looking for Niall? He’s not coming.” 

“And you are?..” Zayn trails off. 

“His brother. I left you that note. I wanted to talk to you.” 

“Oh, you could have talked to me. I mean, you didn’t have to go to the trouble of all these.” 

“Stay away from Niall. He’s got a boyfriend. He tells you that?” 

“No. But he didn’t talk about you either so we only covered the important stuff.” 

Louis for once, feels like his sassiness is gone and he kinda likes the new kid who is as sarcastic as he is. But, for Niall’s sake, he has to play his role as older brother and that’s when he decides to continue with the picking of the new kid. 

“hey, nice bag.” Louis says as he pulls off the bag from the new kid’s shoulder. “Wonder what’s in it.” 

“Give me that.” Zayn tries to take his bag but Louis’ friends are restraining him. 

Louis opens the zip and shakes the bag until all the things come out and falls on the ground. He finds some expensive books and was about to tear it up when he heard Niall’s voice. 

“Louis! Stop it!” Niall says as he tries to grab the stuffs from Louis’s hand. 

Louis growls and looks at his younger brother angrily. “Go ahead, Niall. Tell him why you really hanging out with him.” 

Zayn turns to watch Niall and suddenly he knows. Niall realizes that too and starts to speak up. “Zayn, I can explain..” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Forget it. There’s nothing to say. Don’t worry Louis. I’ll be staying away from your brother..” Zayn says as he picks his bag and looks at Niall. “..for good.” 

Niall couldn’t help but feels disappointed and he doesn’t know why. He likes Zayn. He didn’t mean to hurt him. 

Louis watches as Zayn turns before he starts taunting again. “By the way dude, nice dad. I’m curious has he always been such a headcase or just since your mom bought it?” 

Zayn snaps at Louis’s words. Nobody talks about his mom and it stays that way. Without hesitating he turns around and punches Louis. They roll on the ground as they starts to fight each other. 

Niall looks in panic as he watches the scene in front of him. “Lou! Get off him! Lou!” Niall screams as Louis seems to punch Zayn continuously. When Louis doesn’t bulge, Niall grabs his collar and punches his brother. 

**

Zayn shuts his locker’s door and turns to his left only to find Niall is walking towards his direction. He wants to run from Niall but the blonde catch him first and blocks his way. “Hey.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes and turns around. “I expected you wouldn’t talk to me so I brought a peace offer..” Niall trails off. 

Zayn turns to face Niall. “Why should I talk to you? So you can lie to me more?” 

Niall shakes his head and smiles sadly. “I didn’t lie to you, Zayn. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth. That’s all.” 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Zayn asks. 

“Yes.” 

Zayn scoffs and turns to walk away again when Niall speaks up. “But I want you to meet him. If you do, you’ll understand.”

“Oh yeah. Sure. That was on my list of things to do. Right between picking up my dry cleaning and chopping off my hand.” Zayn replies sarcastically. 

Niall ignores the sarcasm and stares at Zayn. “He’s in the hospital which is three hour away from here, four by bus. If we want to make it back by dinner, we have to leave now.” 

Zayn looks at the determination on Niall’s face. “You’re serious about this?” 

“Come with me. After that you don’t have to talk to me ever again if you don’t want to.”

**

“So this is your boyfriend..” Zayn states the obvious as they stare through the glass door of the hospital room. Niall’s boyfriend is lying unconscious on the bed with many machines hook around him. 

“Zayn Malik, meet Liam Payne.” Niall says before he throws his back on the wall and sighs. “Liam grew up down the block from me. We did everything together. He was the first boy I ever hated.” Niall smiles a little as he recalls the memory before he speaks up again. “The first boy I ever hit. Kissed. Louis and him were best friends. They were always getting into trouble and last summer they decided to swipe Liam’s dad’s truck and go for a joy ride. Liam drove. There was an accident. Louis was thrown from the vehicle. He doesn’t remember what happened. By the time the ambulance got there, Liam had fallen unconscious. He hasn’t woken up ever since. Every night I’ve prayed for a miracle but nothing happens.” Niall looks at Zayn. “When I heard about your dad, I thought if anyone could help Liam, it would be your dad, right?” Niall’s voice cracks a little. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings Zayn. I was gonna tell you. I just..I didn’t know how.” 

Zayn stares at Niall after he finishes his story. He couldn’t bear to look the sad face of Niall instead of smiley one that Niall always display at the school during the first few days of Zayn knowing him. Niall doesn’t strike Zayn as type of person who is mourning over his boyfriend who is lying still on the hospital bed, unaware of the world. When the first tear rolls down Niall’s eyes, Zayn put his thumb and wipes it away softly. At the moment, he knows everything in his life will change because of the blonde boy in front of him. “I’ll help you, Niall.”


	2. Family Affairs

“Okey dokey. Here we go.” Zayn’s dad, Yasir says as he put the last plate on the table for the dinner. 

“What is that?” Zayn asks as he squints at the burnt dish in front of him. 

“I think it’s dinner.” It is Harry who answers Zayn’s question. 

“I found Mom’s old recipe book.” Zayn’s dad explains. 

“And you cooked it?” Zayn asks with his raise eyebrows. Harry laughs at his brother’s comment. 

Yasir shakes his head and chuckles. “No smart-ass. I cooked her meat loaf. Now come on everybody, eat up.” 

When Zayn and Harry gives an unconvincing look to eat the ‘burnt’ meat loaf, Yasir sighs and sits down before he speaks again. “Look, tomorrow we’ll try a restaurant in town, okay?” 

“if we’re not in a hospital.” Zayn quips sarcastically. 

“I have my film pick for the night!” Harry squeals suddenly, looking at his dad and brother. They are always making time to watch a movie together since few weeks ago and Harry is really looking forward for it that night. 

Yasir looks at the DVD that Harry had handed to him and smiles. “Oh, Boogeyman. Excellent choice Hazza.” 

“Don’t let him watch it.” Zayn warns as he looks at his father and shakes his head. 

“Be quiet!” Harry frowns at Zayn. Why must Zayn ruins his fun time?

“Did I miss something?” Yasir asks looking between both of his sons. 

“Raising him.” Zayn answers. “He can’t watch that movie. It upsets him.” Zayn explains. 

“It does not!” Harry defenses. 

“Not if you don’t count screams and sleeping on my floor.” Zayn retorts back. 

“Hazza, tell the truth.” Yasir demands, looking at his youngest son for explanation. 

Harry pouts slightly as he crosses his arm and looks at his dad. “It used to scare me but not anymore.” 

“That’s what he says every time like a junkie begging for more smack.” Zayn adds.

“I’m not a junkie! You’re a junkie!” Harry fights back, frowning at his older brother. 

“No one’s a junkie in this house!” Yasir speaks before he adds. “Yet.” They are about to begin their dinner when the phone rings. Zayn can only look as his dad gets up and goes to the phone. 

“Dr. Malik?” Zayn hears his father picks up. “Yes. Yes I can.” Zayn frowns. “No. We’re just finishing dinner now. I’ll be right over. What’s your address?” Zayn sighs. “Okay then. See you in a bit. Will do.” Zayn slumps heavily on the chair as soon as his dad finishes the phone’s conversation. 

“Who was that?” Harry asks. 

“What I’ve been waiting for since we came. My first house call.” Yasir says enthusiastically. 

“So _‘we’re just finishing dinner’_ , huh?” Zayn scoffs and rolls his eyes. 

“Well, I can’t let my first house-call family feels bad, Zayn.” Yasir says as he goes and picks up his equipment’s bag. “Besides, I won’t be long.” Yasir assures his sons. After he finishes with his bag, he walks out of the door, leaving Zayn and Harry both looks at the dishes on the dinner table. 

“I’ll order pizza.” Zayn leans in to talk to Harry. 

Harry nods enthusiastically. “Half cheese half pepperoni.” 

**

Yasir closes the door quietly and walks across the living room only to find that Harry is sleeping on the couch with the television is still on with the Boogeyman movie. He crouches down and picks up his sleeping son and carries him to his bedroom. 

Harry feels his body being lifted and realizes that his dad is putting him on the bed. He opens his eyes and mumbles sleepily. “Hey dad.” 

“Hey kiddo. How was the movie?” Yasir asks as he strokes his son’s hair softly. 

“I tried not to watch it. Honest. But it called out to me.” Harry says. 

Yasir nods amusingly. “I bet.” 

“I didn’t get scared.” Harry convinces his father. 

Yasir smiles at his youngest son’s antic and leans in to kiss his forehead. “Go back to sleep.” He shuts the light off and goes towards his eldest son’s bedroom. 

Zayn is listening to the song in his Ipod as he feels a shadow across his bed. “I’m back.” Zayn looks up and finds his father is speaking to him by the door of his bedroom. 

“Sound the trumpets.” He replies shortly. 

“Look, I know it took longer than expected.” Yasir tries to explain. 

“I hadn’t really noticed.” Zayn replies in his usual sarcastic manners. He looks towards his dad and speaks up again. “The door?” Yasir sighs and finally leaves his son alone and closes his bedroom’s door. Zayn can be so stubborn sometimes. 

**

“Okay, give it to me.” Zayn snaps his head from his locker to look at the voice that belongs to Niall.

“Excuse me?” Zayn asks confusingly. 

“Your academic update.” Niall grins widely. “You’ve been here for a month. What do you think of your classes?” 

“I think they’re as annoying and dull as my classes in London, only in a different country.” Zayn replies as he shuts his locker’s door. 

Niall laughs loudly before they walk side by side towards their next class. “I have to warn you there’s a movement to issue the new kid a nickname.” 

Zayn sighs and stares at Niall. “Why do I not like the direction this is going?” 

Niall laughs out loud again. “Don’t worry, it’s an offensive tactic. The way I see it, at some point as the new kid, you’ll get a nickname.” Niall speaks before he adds. “These labels are never kind. They’re either fun or mean.” Niall pauses. He frowns slightly before he continues. “But most are mean.” 

Zayn nods. “I know.” Zayn smiles as he looks at Niall. “I have gym with ‘Blackhead’ Davis.” 

Niall cringes slightly at the mentioned nickname. “See what I mean?” Zayn nods. 

“Now if you annihilate the few suggested nicknames, we have a real shot at making a fun one stick.” Niall says enthusiastically. 

Zayn raises his eyebrow at Niall’s words before he shakes his head disbelievingly. “You know for a classic boy-next-door, you have a really warped mind.” 

Niall’s face turns serious before he answers to Zayn’s comment. “It’s something in the water here.” 

Zayn laughs at Niall’s antic. “So..what’s yours?” 

“Me? They call me…” Niall starts to speak as the bell rings. “…late for class!” Niall replies cheekily before he turns around and waves goodbye at Zayn. “See you Bubba!” 

Zayn stares at Niall’s back with a raising eyebrows. “Bubba?” 

Niall turns slightly and waves his hand. “Just testing one out!” He says before he laughs and leaves Zayn with a slight smile on his face. Niall is really something else, Zayn thought. 

**

Zayn is fixing his hair in front of the mirror when one of the toilet stall’s doors are open only to reveal Louis, Niall’s older brother with couple of his friends. 

“Well, howdy loser.” Louis greets Zayn sarcastically. 

“You guys choreograph the bathroom-stall exit and I’m the loser?” Zayn quips back. 

Louis ignores the comment and starts to speak up again. “I see you’re still getting cozy with my little bro. I thought I told you once he’s spoken for.” 

Zayn huffs at Louis’s attempt of warning. “Really? _‘Spoken for’_? Hey Louis, the 50’s called and they want their lingo back.” 

Louis is taken aback for a second before he steps towards Zayn again. “As soon as Liam finds out about you, he’s gonna kick your sorry ass.” 

“Well, I figure I might have a slight advantage over him seeing you know as I’m conscious.” Zayn suddenly realizes he had replied with wrong comments when Louis shoves him roughly and his back is knocking the wall behind him, making him winces slightly at the impact. 

“Watch what you say,little man!” Louis hisses. “Another comment like that, Liam won’t be the only one in a coma.” 

Zayn refuses to back down to a bully like Louis and decides to stand up for himself. “Statistically I’m not little but according to every chart I’ve seen you’re still a moron.” 

“Oh, you may think I’m a moron. You may be right. But when it comes to my brother, Niall, I’m a genius. And he’s playing you, dude. As soon as he gets your daddy fixing up Liam, he’s not even going to look at you.” Louis says before he adds. “Just remember I said that.” 

As soon as Louis and his friends leave him alone, Zayn closes his eyes and sighs. Part of him is wondering whether it’s true that Niall is playing him but part of him is really hoping that Niall is not like what Louis had said. 

**

Harry raises his hand to get his teacher’s attention. “Yes, Harry, what is it now?” 

“I can’t see the board well from here. Can I move up front?” 

“Is there something wrong with your eyes?” His teacher asks. Harry shakes his head. “No.” He replies. 

“Then why do you need to sit up front?” 

“To hear you better.” 

“Oh, you have a hearing difficulty?” 

Harry shakes his head again. “No.” 

Harry’s teacher frowns. “I’m sorry, Harry. I don’t understand.” 

“I just like to sit close.” Harry speaks up. 

The teacher smiles forcefully and starts to explain. “In this class, the girls sit in the front rows and the boys sit in the other rows.”

“You mean the back rows.” 

“Yes.” The teacher replies shortly before she starts to pick up on what she had left before Harry’s question. 

Harry raises his hand again. “Do we ever switch?” 

The teacher turns around. “Excuse me?” 

“Do the boys and girls ever switch?” 

“No.” 

“Then I’d like to sit up front, please.” 

“I see. Well, to do that, you’d have to be a girl. You’re not suggesting that you really a girl Harry, are you?”

Harry falls into silence and he could feel that all of his classmates turn to look at him. Flustered, Harry sits back down slowly and sighs. This never happened at his old school. Seems like being schooled at big city is different compared to this small town and Harry really starts to dread it. 

“And while we’re at it. Remove your beanie.” The teacher says to Harry and he frowns. “This is a classroom.” Everyone laughs at Harry and he feels himself starts to tear up. He misses his old school. 

**

“Well, welcome to Mando’s. Mullingar’s Friday-night culinary hot spot.” The waiter greets Zayn, Harry and their father once they are seated in the restaurant. “What do you like to order, sir?” 

“We’ll have two orders of chicken parmigiana, one sweet-and-sour pork and couple of egg rolls to start.” Yasir starts to order. 

Zayn looks out around before he starts to speak up. “I’d like to point out that this is the weirdest restaurant we’ve ever been to and we’re from London where we’re served by drag queens.” 

“I think it’s cool.” Harry says, shrugging. Somehow he finds it weird that Zayn always pick up a point to fight or argue with their father. 

“So, who’s up for going to the Thaw Fest tomorrow?” Yasir asks, completely changing the topic to a lighter one. 

“Well, I’d love to as long as you promise to take up surgery and lobotomize me first.” Zayn quips sarcastically. 

“Look, come on Zayn. It’ll be fun. There’s gonna be hayrides, a Ferris wheel.” 

“In what universe does that translate into _‘fun’_?” 

“Dad, what’s it mean when someone takes ‘extreme disciplinary measures’?” Harry interrupts the _‘fun’_ conversation between Zayn and their father. 

“Where’d you hear that expression?” Yasir asks, looking at his youngest son. 

Harry shrugs. “On TV.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrow and looks at Harry. He knows Harry is lying and couldn’t help but smirks slightly at Harry’s sneakiness towards their father. “It means someone’s in trouble.” Zayn is about to say something else when suddenly his eyes caught on two figures that had just entered the restaurant. 

“Dr. Horan! Mullingar’s big shot tough guy!” Zayn hears the owner of the restaurant said to what Zayn presume as Niall’s father. They talk for a while before Zayn hears that Dr. Horan is requesting for their regular table. “I’m sorry. Your regular table is not available this evening.” Zayn hears the owner says. Zayn takes a chance to glance over Niall and he couldn’t help but notices how fit Niall looks at that moment. Niall wears a tight red polo shirt with a khaki jean, along with his slightly spiked blonde-hair and Zayn could feel himself swallowed hard as he glances at the beautiful boy who stands beside his father. And then suddenly, Dr. Horan looks and points at their table and Zayn feels like he wants the ground to swallow him in because he suddenly knows that what Dr. Horan had meant by their regular table. 

Zayn is brought out from his stupor when he hears his father asking him a question. “Hey, Zayn. How’s it going with the Horan boy?” 

Zayn snaps his head towards his father. “What brought that up?” 

“Just curious.” 

“Well, don’t be.” Zayn answers too quickly for his own liking. 

Yasir seems not to notice his son’s reaction as he continues to speak again. “it must be going well because he’s walking over here.” As soon as the words left his father’s lips, Zayn quickly turns around and sure enough, Niall is walking towards his direction with a big smile on his face. 

“Hey, bubba!” Niall greets excitedly. 

“Hey dad, you remember Niall..” Zayn stammers nervously. 

“Of course! Hello Niall!” Yasir greets the young boy happily. 

“Hello, Dr Malik.” Niall replies politely. “Hi! What’s your name?” Niall greets Harry as soon as he spotted the younger kid besides Zayn. 

“I’m Harry. And you’re hot.” Harry says innocently, making Niall blushes. Zayn glares slightly at Harry and Harry seems oblivious to it. Zayn is about to say something else when his dad got a call from one of his patients. Typical. 

“So, you’re just here with your dad?” Zayn asks Niall as he stands up to face the blonde-haired boy. 

“Yeah. How’d you know?” 

“He’s kind of hard to miss.” Zayn says as he can see from the corner of his eyes, Dr. Horan is looking at his son who is talking to him at the moment. 

Niall laughs before he starts to explain. “It’s a father-son night so we eat and go home and watch something he’s taped off at home. Louis is out with his friends so it’s only me tonight.” 

Zayn smiles. “Sounds cool.” 

“I know it’s hard to believe but he can be cool when no one’s looking.” Niall says. “Anyways, I better get back before he combusts. I just wanted to say hi. See you, Zayn.” Niall adds before he turns and walks toward his father. 

“See you.” Zayn mumbles. 

As soon as Zayn sits down, Harry starts to lean closer to him. “Is he your boyfriend?” 

“No.” Zayn replies quickly. 

“But you want him to be.” Harry states calmly. 

Zayn glares at his brother. “You’re about _this_ close to knowing pain that you’ve never known before.” Zayn says, threating his nosy brother making Harry chuckles. 

“That was my patient. I’ve gotta get right there.” Zayn’s father says. “It’s an emergency.” He says as he grabs his coat. 

Zayn let out a loud sigh disbelievingly. “But we just ordered!” 

His dad goes silence for a second before he convinces his sons that he would be back by the time his sons finish their meals. He fishes out his wallet and put several notes on the table before he left both Harry and Zayn, alone on their dinner table. 

**

Zayn curses out loud as he finishes calling the cab service in the town. Apparently, the cab service is not working on the night and Zayn is mad at the situation. How else he would get back to his house with his little brother? 

Niall walks out of the diner with his father when suddenly he spots Zayn and Harry standing by the side of the road. “Look at this. Now what kind of a father leaves his children in a restaurant alone?” Niall’s dad says and Niall rolls his eyes. His father seems to despise Dr. Malik since he got into the small town and Niall knows this is one of the times where his father seems to get the point to criticize Dr. Malik. 

“Stranded?” Niall asks as soon as he reaches to Zayn and Harry. 

Zayn shrugs. “Just trying to get a taxi. It turns out that there’s only one cabby in town and he’s taken the night off.” 

Niall nods understandingly. “Mr. Randolph. He doesn’t work Friday nights.” He explains. “Well, we can give you a ride home. Right dad?” Niall asks and looks at his father. “Of course we can.” Bobby Horan says. He’d do anything for his son. But before Niall can say anything, he whispers to his son’s ear. “He sits up front with me.” 

**

“Thanks for the ride Mr. Horan!” Harry says as soon as he steps out of the car, running towards the front door. Zayn shakes his head and smiles at his brother’s action. Harry is such a child. 

“Urm, Zayn.” Niall calls out behind Zayn as they step out of the car. “Thaw Fest is tomorrow. I was wondering if you were going.” Niall says uncertainly. He wants Zayn to go the festival but he didn’t know how to ask him beforehand. 

“Zayn?” Zayn hears Harry calls him from the front porch. Sometimes he wants to strangle his brother for ruining the moment. 

“Just a second.” He replies to Harry before he turns to face Niall again. “I’m thinking about going. I hear they have hayrides and Ferris wheels.” 

Niall grins widely before he starts to speak excitedly. “Did you know that they have a horseshoe-throwing competition?” 

“Zayn!” Zayn sighs loudly at Harry’s voice. “I said just a second!” He replies not too politely. “Little brothers, you know.” Zayn laughs nervously as he speaks to Niall again. “But yeah, no I was thinking about going to the festival..of..the..thaw..” He says it right, he guess. But when Niall laughs at his jumbling words, he knows he messes up. “That came up wrong.” 

Niall just laughs at Zayn’s expression before he retreats back towards his car and shouts, “2 o’clock! See ya tomorrow! Bye!” and with that the Horan drives away, leaving Zayn smiling widely. 

“Zayn!” Harry calls out again and Zayn snaps his body to turn towards his brother. “What?” 

“We’re locked out.” Harry says and Zayn curses out loud, again. 

**

“Over my dead and decaying corpse you’re going to Thaw Fest with that boy.” Bobby Horan says to his son as soon as they steps into their house. 

“I am not going with him! I am just meeting him there!” Niall says, in defenses of his action. “Since when do you care who I go to Thaw Fest with?” 

“Since you started to asking future paroless to attend with you.” Bobby answers. 

“You don’t know him.” Niall says as he bends down to tie off his shoelaces. “This is so unfair!” Niall whines. 

“Well, in certain parent-child conflicts, fairness is irrelevant.” 

Niall rolls his eyes at his father’s words. “Why is it the parent that always gets to decide the relevancy?” 

“An excellent question if I do say so myself.” Niall’s mother interrupts from the living room. 

Bobby turns towards his wife and smiles. “Oh, hello dear.” 

“Mom! Dad is being excruciating!” Niall pouts as he walks towards his mum and sits beside her on the couch. 

“Excruciating literally means to feel the pain of crucifixion. While my law may be difficult at times, I think that we can both agree that Jesus had it a bit tougher.” Bobby says. 

“He didn’t live here!” Niall says before he stands up and stomps his way passes through his father and walks towards his bedroom. 

“Where are you going? We haven’t gotten to the movie half yet. It’s your favorite.” Bobby calls out to his son who already at the upstairs. When Niall only answer with a slamming door of his room, Bobby turns around only to find his wife stares at him sternly. 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. Like you’re gonna overrule me.” Bobby says. 

“I don’t have to.” Maura replies. “You’re gonna rescinds you own ruling.” She adds. “Our youngest son hasn’t had moments of fun since Liam’s accident. And right now, if he wanted to go to that festival with badass Zayn, I’d let him do it.” 

“Maura, do you know who this boy is?” Bobby asks his wife. He knows Maura is right but he just couldn’t let Niall be with Zayn. “He’s the son of that faux Marcus Welby. You’ll be interested to know that we had another five cancellations today. ‘Just feeling better Dr. Horan’ they all say. Yeah yeah, give me a break.” Bobby rambles on. “They’re all going across the street for some free medicine. And how can I compete with that?” 

“We’ve had this conversation umpteen times, Bobby. This isn’t about that doctor or his son or even about free medicine. This is about our son, looking for a bit of happiness in his life. Wouldn’t you want him to be happy again?” Maura asks, leaving Bobby speechless at the living room when she said good night and went to their room after her little comment. 

**

“Keep him away! Keep him away! Let go off me!” Harry trashes on his bed and Zayn quickly runs towards his brother’s bed. 

“Harry! What’s wrong?” Zayn asks worriedly. 

“The Boogeyman is going to kill me!” Harry says frantically and Zayn sighs. He knew that it would end up like this when Harry watched the movie. Nobody is going to kill you, Harry.” Zayn tries to soothe his little brother. 

“Where’s dad? I want dad!” Harry begs. 

“He’ll be home soon. Here, lie down. Okay?” Zayn soothes. 

Zayn is about to walk out from the room when Harry calls his name. “Zayn?” 

“Yes?” 

“Could you stay with me for a little while?” 

Zayn nods at his little brother’s request. “Move over.” As soon as he settle down on Harry’s bed, Zayn feels Harry scoots closer to him and he lets his brother falls asleep again before he gets up from the bed silently. 

** 

Zayn glances at the clock as soon as he heard the sound of the car’s engine in front of his house. The clock shows that it is already midnight and Zayn knows the car belongs to his father. “Where have you been?” Zayn asks as soon as his father enters the dark house. 

“I was stuck at the Dudleys.” Yasir says as he put down his bagpack on the table. “Why? What’s the matter? Everything okay?” 

“No, everything’s not okay. Your youngest son had a nightmare tonight.” 

“How is he?”

“He’s fine now. Got his back to sleep about 30 minutes ago.” Zayn replies coldly. 

“It was that movie, wasn’t it? I should have made sure he didn’t see it.” 

Zayn feels his blood boils at his father’s clueless action. Angrily, he stands up from the couch and walks towards his father. “You know for someone who was cited by London News and World Report as _‘one of the greatest minds in London’_ , it’s amazed me sometimes how clueless you are. You really think this was about a movie?” Zayn says angrily before he starts to walk away from his father. He couldn’t contain his anger anymore. 

“Well, why don’t you enlighten me Zayn as to what it is about because it is just what I need tonight is another lecture from my 15-year-old son!” Yasir raises his voice slightly behind his son as Zayn is about to walk towards his room. 

Zayn turns to face his father angrily. “Do not talk to me like you talked to Mom! I’m not your wife.” 

“What the hell that’s supposed to mean?” 

“You think I wanna be having this conversation? I didn’t marry you. I never agreed to pick up your slack.”

“Look, Zayn. I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of Harry tonight but I was treating a 7-year-old boy who could barely breathe.” Yasir tries to explain to his son but Zayn wouldn’t have it. 

“Oh! You win! 7-year-old boy who can’t breathe can’t be trump over boys with nightmares.” Zayn replies sarcastically. 

“Yes, in my profession they do.” 

“The medical one or the crappy-father one?” Zayn retorts angrily. 

“Alright! That is enough!” Yasir raises his voice again at his son. “As of this second, you and that mouth are gonna start showing me some respect or..” 

“Or what?!” Zayn cuts his father off and raises his hand in frustration. 

“What happened to your hand?” Yasir asks as he suddenly realizes the bandage on Zayn’s right hand. 

Zayn looks at his hand before he looks at his father again. “It’s tonight punch’s line. I sliced it while trying to pry opens a window to this place which happened after we couldn’t get a ride home which happened after you left us at dinner for the second night this week!” 

Yasis shakes his head after he realizes what he had done. “Let me take a look.” He says as he tries to take Zayn’s hand but his son refuses. “It’s fine.” Zayn steps back. “Zayn, just let me take a look.” Yasir tries again as he touches his son. “Don’t touch me!” Zayn yells before turns around and quickly retreats into his room, leaving his regretful father alone. 

**

“Now what did we talk about in the car?” Zayn asks his brother as soon as they reach the festival site. 

“For the next three hours, I don’t know you.” 

Zayn smiles and ruffles Harry’s hair. “Good.” And with that he leaves his brother with his father to find Niall. He looks around until his eyes stops at the beautiful sight in front of him. Niall is standing alone, waiting for him in his blue shirt with a grey cardigan and his hair is styled like the night before. Zayn smiles before he takes a step towards Niall to greet him. “Hey.” 

Niall smiles brightly as soon as he sees Zayn. Zayn looks so fit in his white t-shirt and black jeans, and when he smiles at Niall, the blonde-haired boy can feel his own heart racing. “Hey there.” They talk about the melting man besides them for few moments before Niall stops laughing and stares at Zayn. 

“Here’s the deal. My dad agreed that I could hang with you under one condition.” Niall cringes slightly. 

Zayn raises his eyebrow. That doesn’t sounds good. “Yeah? What’s that?” 

Before Niall could answer, a face of Louis appears besides Niall and Zayn curses inwardly. “How it goes bone lick?” Louis says and Niall smiles apologetically at Zayn. “He has to hang with us.” Niall says in a resigned tone. 

“No offense Niall, but he’s really my least favorite thing about you.” Zayn quips as he looks at Louis who is currently eating a sugar candy. Louis’s eyes widened at Zayn’s comment and start to speak up too. “Well, yeah you’re really my least favorite thing about you.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “You’re really gotta work on the insults.” Niall laughs at Zayn’s comment and Louis seems to ignore his little brother. He suddenly stands between Niall and Zayn and puts his arms around both of their shoulders. “So, what are we gonna do first?” 

**

Zayn laughs nervously as soon as the cart that he is on stops at the top of the Ferris wheel. He is afraid of height but somehow Niall manages to make him agreed to ride the wheel, so here he is, sitting nervously in the cart, with Niall besides him. “I’m surprised Louis didn’t charm himself up here with us.” Zayn says shakily as he tries to distract himself from the height. 

Niall laughs. “I knew he wouldn’t go near this thing. He’s deadly afraid of the heights.” Niall explains. He is proud with himself with the way that he got to sneak out from Louis’s eyes and can spending time with Zayn alone. 

“So, what do people do up here aside from wait for an early demise..” Zayn says as Niall turns to look at him amusingly, “…and ask really dumb questions?” Zayn trails off and Niall chuckles. 

“Actually I brought you up here to tell you something very important.” Niall says. 

Zayn gives his full attention to Niall as he waits for the blonde-haired boy to continue. “Grover.” 

“Grover?” 

“It’s my nickname.” Niall admits. “I know for most kids it’s all Toy Story or Power Rangers but for me life was about a little blue Muppet named Grover.” Niall continues as he blushes and Zayn couldn’t help but smile at how red Niall’s face is at the moment. 

“Well, Grover was a much underrated Muppet.” Zayn says. 

“Louis and Liam used to torment me by stealing my Grover doll and hiding him. And then one day Liam refused to give me the doll back unless I kissed him first. Liam that is, not Grover who I had kissed many many times. So, I closed my eyes and Liam closed his. We both leaned forward. And I kicked him right in the nuts.” Niall says as he laughs at the memories. “Liam that is, not Grover who didn’t have nuts. At least none that I was aware of.” Zayn smiles as Niall starts to speak up again. “Anyway, Liam screamed and doubled over. My parents raced into the room and when they asked what happened, Liam wouldn’t tell them. All he would say was that Grover did it. And somehow suddenly I had developed my first crush.” Niall says. “On Liam that is, not Grover.” 

They both fall into silence after Niall finishes and Zayn has to look away to absorb all of the info. Niall has a boyfriend. And by the way that Niall speaks about him, Zayn knows Niall is still in love with his boyfriend. 

“Look, I know we haven’t talked about this since that trip to the hospital so..” Niall trails off. He likes Zayn. He does. But he has Liam. And he really needs Zayn’s dad to cure Liam. 

“You want me to ask my dad to help Liam.” Zayn states calmly. He knows it was the reason from the start but he couldn’t help but feels a little hurt. 

“If you could just talk to him…” Niall trails off. “I mean, I know there’s probably nothing he can do but..” Niall starts to ramble on. 

Zayn cuts Niall’s ramble and starts to speak up. “Yeah. Sure, Niall. I’ll ask him. No problem.” 

Niall is little taken aback but smiles nonetheless. “Thank you, Zayn.” As on cue, the cart starts to move down and both of Niall and Zayn are in silent, thinking about each other without realizing it. 

**

Niall grins as he spots a familiar figure standing near the book shelf in the library. Just his luck. “How’s it going there, Ham?” Niall greets with a wide smile. 

Zayn shakes his head, confused. “Ham?” 

“It’s your new nickname. Welcome to it.” Niall explains.

“My nickname’s a deli item.” Zayn deadpans as he walks towards the nearest table and sits down on the chair. 

Niall follows suit and sits beside Zayn and stares at the beautiful dark-haired boy. “See, that’s everyone thinks but we’ll know it’s really short for this.” Niall says as he hands out a small book to Zayn and the boy takes it. 

“See? You look just like Hamlet.” Niall chuckles and Zayn rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. 

“That does not look like me.” Zayn replies as he looks at the cover page of the book in his hand. 

“No, you can’t deny it. Mullingar finally has its own dark prince.” Niall says with a laugh, earning a stern glare from the librarian. Niall knows Zayn likes to read, that’s why he thought of Zayn as soon he saw the book and decided to buy it for him. Niall watches as Zayn keeps the book carefully into his bag before he starts to speak up again. “Do you want to grab some lunch?” Niall offers casually but inside he is nervous as hell, especially when Zayn’s smile fades and his face turns into a serious look. 

“Before we get lunch, we should talk.” Zayn says. 

It takes a few moments before suddenly Niall’s eyes are widened with realization and hope. “You asked your father, didn’t you?” 

Zayn stares at Niall for a moment before he speaks up again. “He said no.” 

Niall feels his heart shattered into pieces as soon as Zayn finishes his words. He really hopes that Zayn’s dad can heal Liam. Can make Liam wakes up again. But if the doctor refuses, what else can Niall do? 

“I mean you can’t really begrudge the guy. He’s trying to get out of the brain business to start a new life.” Zayn explains as he sees Niall’s smile is fading and the beautiful boy in front of him is trying so hard to not crumble down in front of Zayn. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry. It was silly for me to ask.” Niall’s voice wavers as he speaks up. 

“I’m sorry Niall.” Zayn says. Niall falls into silence and Zayn stares at the boy. He knows he’s hurting Niall but he is hurting too by the way Niall is using him to get to his father to help Liam. “You still want to get lunch?” 

“You know, I think I’m just gonna hang here for a while and look over some notes before class.” Niall replies without even looking at Zayn. So Zayn stands up, grabs his back and leave Niall alone. But before he walks away completely, he turns to look at Niall only to find that the blonde-haired boy’s shoulder is sagging down and by the way his body shakes, Zayn knows that Niall is crying.


	3. A small fight

Zayn put on his earphones and closes his locker’s door before he turns around and his eyes catch on Niall’s figure. Niall is standing in front of his locker, talking with his friends and Zayn decides to approach him. 

“Here comes geek boy.” Zayn hears one of Niall’s friends says. Zayn acts like he doesn’t hear them even if he does. All he wants to do is to talk to Niall, not his little peasants. 

“You guys are awful.” Niall replies to his friend’s comment as he looking at approaching Zayn. When Zayn is reaching his locker, Niall’s friends take off and leave him alone.

Niall shakes his head at his friends’ behavior and turns to look at Zayn, greeting him with a wide smile. “Hey, Zayn.”

Zayn pulls out his earphone and starts to talk to Niall. “Boy, can I clear a hallway or what?” Zayn comments regarding the departures of Niall’s friends. 

Niall chuckles at Zayn’s comments. “That’s Sean and Jack. They’re allergic to anyone who’s not at the top 2 of popularity percentile.” Niall explains. 

“I’m only 98 percent short.” Zayn deadpans, making Niall laughs out loud at his comment. He looks around to Niall’s locker and his eyes stops at one of the posted picture in the locker. The picture only shows a half body with a guitar and microphone in a black and white colour. “Friends of yours?” Zayn asks. 

“Nope.” Niall shakes his head. “I cut it out from a photography magazine. You like?” 

“Sure.” Zayn nods before he asks again, “Where’s the rest of them?” 

“I dig the guitar.” Niall says making Zayn raises his eyebrows in confusion. Niall seems to ignore him and starts to ask Zayn about something else. 

“What’s up? You look like you wanted to ask me something.” 

Zayn straightens his body a little and nods. “I do. Hurm, I was wondering if you..” Zayn pauses as Niall stares directly into his eyes, “…were gonna do the reading for Mr. Donnelly’s class at lunch..” Zayn stammers. “I heard he might be throwing a pop quiz. I just wanted to warn you..” Damn it, why is he so nervous to talk to Niall and always ends up like an idiot? 

Niall smiles and nods at Zayn amusingly. “I’m prepared. But thank you.” Niall starts to turn around as he waves Zayn off. “See you later.” And Zayn can only see the back of Niall’s body as Niall walks towards his classroom. 

“You could always get calf implants.” 

Zayn turns around to find the source of the voice behind him only to stare at the stranger who he doesn’t even know since he started to move to Mullingar few weeks before. 

“There’s a doctor in the next town who evidently works miracles on men with chicken legs.” The boy says as he stands in front of Zayn and extending his right hand to shake Zayn’s. “Danny.” The boy introduces himself. 

Zayn stares blankly at the boy before the boy starts to speak again. “This is the part where you shake my hand.” Zayn decides not to bother and starts to turn away before the boy, Danny opens his mouth again. “If you’re looking to get your picture in his locker, you’re going about it wrong dude.” 

That comment gets Zayn’s attention as he turns to face the boy again. “The whole school knows Niall worships at the shrine of coma boy every weekend. If you wanna break his habit, you’re gonna need help.” The boy offers. 

“Well, not yours.” Zayn says as he starts to walk away again from the boy. Unfortunately, the boy doesn’t seem to get the message as he starts to follow Zayn. “I provide a service. One that you might find infinitely beneficial in your doomed albeit noble romantic pursuit.” 

“What are you talking about?” Zayn sighs. Can’t this Danny boy just shut the hell up? 

“You’ll see Malik. I’m just finishing your dossier. Give me some time to work out the finer details and I’ll call you with the plan.” The boy says before he clasps on Zayn’s shoulder and acting like they are best friends already. Zayn rolls his eyes and just ignore the chatter boy besides him. 

**

Harry looks around the cafeteria with the tray on his hand, searching for a table to sit. Everyone is filling the table except for the one table at the corner. There is only one boy at the table and Harry decides to sit there for his lunch. 

“That’s my seat.” The boy says as soon as Harry seats on the chair in front of him. 

“Can’t we share it?” Harry asks. The boy frowns at him and before Harry can speak again, his penny drops and Harry bends down to take it. 

Harry seats on his chair again and looks down at his tray only to find out that his cookie is missing. He then looks at the boy in front of him but the boy acts like it’s not him that took away the cookie. Harry sighs before he stands up and collects his tray with him. He doesn’t want to seat with asshole, thank you very much. So that’s when he ends up eating his lunch under the tree near his school field. He really misses his London’s friends. 

**

“Wait a minute. Where’s my jacket?” Harry mumbles to himself as he looks at the hanging jackets at the locker. His attention is suddenly shifts to a sound of the voices near him. 

“Quit it, Nicholas..” 

“What did you just call me? You say it again and I’ll fry your face in fat!” 

Harry recognizes one of the boys. The one who scared off the kid in front of him with his little warning and the scared kid took off. The boy was the asshole who stole his lunch earlier. Harry is about to ignore the scene before he suddenly sees a tiny part of his jacket in the boy’s bagpack. 

“There it is.” Harry says as he sees the jacket. He jogs towards the boy and calls out to him. “Wait!” 

The boy turns and stares at Harry. “What? What are you looking at?” And Harry is so speechless with the intimidating boy that he lets the boy gets away with his jacket. Harry sighs at his own cowardice. 

**

Yasir looks up as he hears the footstep of his son approaches him. “Why are you eating that before dinner?” Yasir ask as he points out the chocolate bar in Zayn’s hand. 

“Because I know who’s cooking it.” Zayn replies. Yasir is about to reply to his son’s sarcastic remarks when the telephone rings and Zayn walks away to pick it up. 

“Hello?” Zayn asks. “What do you know about Tchaikovsky?” The voice on the other end of the line speaks. Zayn frowns a little. “Who is this?” Zayn asks. “It’s Danny.” _Oh._ The boys starts to speak again before Zayn can talk. “If you can swing Swan Lake, you’re in with Niall.” 

“How did you get this number?” Zayn asks, totally ignoring Danny’s rambling. 

“Don’t get hung up on the details, dude.” Danny replies as Zayn rolls his eyes. “Practice your Russian.” And the line is dead, leaving Zayn speechless with his pointless phone-call conversation ever. 

“Who was that?” Yasir asks as soon as Zayn put down the phone’s receiver.

“Sales call.” Zayn replies and heads out to take away the rubbish. And then he remembers something before he heads out to laundry room. 

“Doing a lot of laundry these days.” Yasir states as he sees his son throwing his bed sheet into the washing machine. 

“Do you wanna charge me?” Zayn asks sarcastically. 

Yasir shrugs. “I was once a happy sack of hormones myself.” He comments and chuckles as Zayn’s face go pale before he goes redder than ever. 

“Gross. Find another sack to share with.” Zayn snaps to cover his embarrassment at his father. Yasir only laughs out loud and walk out, leaving Zayn alone in the laundry room. 

“Zayn, your friend Danny is on the phone.” Harry says suddenly standing behind Zayn and hands him the phone’s receiver. 

“He’s not my friend. He’s a freak.” Zayn says. 

“He said he was your friend.” 

“Yeah well, don’t be so gullible.” Zayn warns his little brother before he picks up the phone from Harry’s hand. “Hello.” 

“Meet me on the third floor at lunch. Take stairway D next to the chem lab.” Zayn doesn’t even have the time to reply before the line is dead. He shakes his head disbelievingly. How come he ends up befriending with a weirdo? 

Zayn hands the phone to Harry again. “We’re getting caller ID.” 

Harry stares at Zayn before he starts to speak again. “You should be happy you made a friend.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zayn asked confusing by his little brother’s words. 

“It’s not easy. Everyone in my class has known each other since they were kids.” 

Zayn nods understandingly. So, that’s the problem, huh? “Look, Harry. Do you wanna make a friend? The first step is, don’t look so needy.” 

Harry looks down at his pants before he looks up to stare at Zayn again. “Is it these pants?” Harry asks referring to his skinny jeans that he loves to wear. 

Zayn shakes his head and grabs Harry’s hand to follow him. “Here, come on. It’s not that bad. All you need to do look is busy. Trust me.” Zayn says as he searches through some boxes in the store room. He finds a yo-yo from his toy’s box and pulls it out. He passes the thing to Harry and starts to speak. “If you look like you don’t need a friend, you’ll make one in a flash.” And Zayn feels proud for himself when Harry smiles at him, showing his beautiful dimples on his face. 

**

Zayn is walking through the hallway when he spots Danny and he suddenly remembers on what Danny had told him the night before. 

“You’re late.” Danny says to him as he passes a bunch of papers to Zayn. 

Zayn stares at the paper before he shoots Danny a surprised look. “Who told you I played piano?” Zayn asks. “And what makes you think I like Niall?” Zayn continues before he walks to Danny when Danny just turns around and ignoring him. “And why am I following you?” Zayn wonders out loud. 

Danny continues to ignore Zayn and suddenly he stops, making Zayn bumps into him before Zayn starts to straighten up again. 

“This is where music class rehearses.” Danny says as he points at the door in front of both of them. “I was able to call in a favor to give their pianist an acute case of carpal tunnel.” 

Zayn shakes his head confusingly. “What?” 

“That’s my business, Malik. I trade in favors. In this case the piano player gets a collector’s basketball card and you get a chance to impress Niall.” Danny says to Zayn. 

“And what do you get?” 

“The satisfaction of knowing that I can change people’s destinies.” Danny says and Zayn raises his eyebrows. “And a DVD player. Don’t ask.” Danny continues. Zayn rolls his eyes. _Of course._

“Of course you have to deal with Ms. Baxworth. She’s the windbag beneath their wings.” Danny says and Zayn takes a look at inside the room from the door. Niall is playing his guitar and is singing along with 3 other people in the room. One of them is playing the drums and the other two are playing electric guitar and bass. There’s a piano at the corner and no one is playing it. So, Niall can play guitar? Interesting, Zayn thought. He turns to his side and looks at Danny. Danny nods and pushes Zayn through the door, making he stumbles into the room. 

“Are you the sub? Where have you been?” The middle-aged lady asks Zayn as soon as he steps in. So, this must be Ms. Baxworth. “I just got the music.” Zayn replies.

“Well for God sakes, sit down.” And the rest of the class is such a blur for Zayn because Ms. Baxworth is bossing everyone around, leaving no one in any mercy. 

**

Harry is playing with the yo-yo alone when someone takes it from him. He looks up and sees none other than the boy that stole his cookie and jacket before. “Give it back!” Harry demands. 

“Bite me pinhead.” 

“It’s my brother’s!” Harry exclaims.

“Who cares? Tell your daddy to buy him another one. You’re rich.” 

“No, we’re not!” 

“Yeah, right” The boy rolls his eyes. “Then how come your dad doesn’t charge people? You could buy 5000 million more of these.”

Harry doesn’t even know how to comment on that and once again, the boy steals something from him and he couldn’t do anything. 

**

“Alright. I’m clapping as the audience, not me. I have much higher standards than this. See you all right after school. And Zayn, that was super. I’ll see you at 3.30. This left hand needs work.” Ms. Baxworth says before she fled off from the class. Zayn just smiles and nods at her. 

“Hello? Why have you kept this top-secret?” Niall asks as soon as he stands in front of Zayn. 

“What are you talking about? I told you I played.” 

Niall shakes his head and smiles fondly at Zayn. “Not like this. How long have you studied?” 

“Probably about as long as you’ve sang and played guitar. You’re pretty amazing yourself.” Zayn compliments Niall back. 

“Zayn..” Niall pauses. “..what are you doing tonight?” When Zayn doesn’t reply, Niall continues again. “My friend Sean is having a birthday party, do you want to go?” 

“Why? You need somebody to play ‘Happy Birthday’ for him?” Zayn asks. 

Niall shakes his head and smiles. “Come on. You’ll be my guest.” 

Zayn scrunches his nose. “I don’t know. Me, your friends, lit candles in the same room.” Zayn says sarcastically. 

“You don’t know them, Zayn. And they don’t know you.” Niall says. “Yet.” Niall stands closer to Zayn as he speaks again. “Give them a chance. At worst you get some free cake and an evening with me.” 

“Yeah okay. Sure. Yeah, I’ll go.” And who in the right mind doesn’t want to spend the evening with Niall, right? 

Niall flashes his perfect smile again. “Cool!”

**

Zayn is scribbling notes down on his note pad when he notices that Niall and his friends are seating two tables away from him in the library. He is snooping around when suddenly Danny’s face appears in front of him. 

“Wonder what they’re talking about?” Danny asks. 

Zayn shakes his head. “Well, no. I don’t care.” Yes, Zayn lies. 

“It’s probably not that exciting anyway. It looks exciting because of all the wild gesticulating and massive hair flippage going on. You’d think they were solving the world’s energy crisis or better yet, revealing their secret crushes. That’s what they want us to think.” Danny chats up. “My guess is they’re debating which lip gloss is the best flavor.” 

Zayn blinks his eyes stupidly. “They come in flavors?” 

**

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Sean says as Niall looks to the direction that Sean is pointing out. He can see Zayn and Danny chatting up at couple of tables away. “Case in point. He’s talking to that Danny freak.” Sean continues. 

Niall shrugs carelessly. “He’s new here. He’s just trying to meet people, that’s all.” Niall says, defending Zayn’s action. It is true, after all. 

“Nialler, we know you feel sorry that his mum died and you have a thing for him and everything..” Sean trails off. 

“What are you talking about? I do not have a thing for him.” Niall laughs nervously. 

“Okay, whatever. The point is, is he’s not gonna fit it at my party, is he?” Sean asks and Niall goes silence. “And then I’m gonna feel all lame like I’m having a loser party because Zayn isn’t having any fun. And it’s _my_ birthday. I shouldn’t have to worry about other people having fun except, you know, us.” Sean says. Niall’s other friend, Jack who is sitting in front of Niall and Sean nods, agreeing with Sean’s speech. 

“He’s lame. We just think you can do better, that’s all.” Jack says. 

“I’m not trying to do anything. I already have a boyfriend.” Niall replies defensively. 

Sean stares at Jack for a moment and Niall swears he could see both of his friends are giving him a sympathetic smiles. “We love Liam too and he’s totally gonna get better.” 

“So if you don’t _‘like him’_ like him, you won’t care if we just uninvite him, right?” Jack adds. 

“It’s not that I care.” Niall says. Deep down, he knows he is lying to himself. “I just think it’s mean.” 

“We’re not gonna be mean about it.” Sean assures. “Would we ever do anything mean to someone’s face? Come on.” 

Niall sighs internally. He slumps on his chair as Jack points to Zayn to come to their table. And Niall is feeling more dread as Zayn is approaching their table. Niall returns Zayn’s smile but he can feel that it comes out more like a grimace than a smile. 

“Here’s the thing.” Jack says and Niall feels like he wants to take off from there. “We totally want you to come to Sean’s party but..” 

“Yeah but my mum said I could only invite 12 people. And it’s not Niall’s fault because he totally didn’t even know.” Sean cuts Jack off. Niall sees the realization dawns on Zayn’s face and he feels so bad that he can’t look at Zayn straight to the eyes and looks down at his note instead. When he looks up, his eyes caught Zayn’s brown ones and he hopes Zayn can see how sorry he is. 

“I completely understand.” Zayn says calmly but Niall knows Zayn is annoyed with Sean and Jack. Before he starts to walk away, Zayn looks at Niall one more time and Niall swears that he prays for the ground to swallow him at the moment. Because the look of disappointment that Zayn is giving him making his chest hurts. 

**

“Give me my bookmark back!” 

“Get lost!” 

“It was a gift from my mother. It comes from my favorite museum in London and I can’t get another one.” 

“Why don’t you ask daddy to buy the stupid museum?” 

“We don’t live there anymore, okay? And my mother she’s never gonna be able to take me there again. Just take whatever you want but not that, please.” Harry says as he steps closer to the boy to take his bookmark back. 

“Come any closer and I’ll smash you like a bug. I mean it. And I swear if you tell the teacher, your little bookmark will get flushed.” 

**

“All right, are we ready? Zayn?” Ms. Baxworth asks in his direction and Zayn nods. 

“I have to talk to you.” Niall speaks quietly as he is playing the guitar near to Zayn. Ms. Baxworth only wants to test out the music arrangement and doesn’t need him to sing for today so he takes the opportunity to talk to Zayn. 

“You can talk all you want. I don’t have to listen.” Zayn replies. 

“Just let me explain.” Niall tries to beg for Zayn to listen to him. 

“Explain what? Why your friends are total dicks or why you chose to be with them in the first place?” Zayn snaps sarcastically. 

“It’s not like they’re always like that. From the moment I’ve known them, they didn’t start out this way, trust me.” Niall tries to explains. 

“So as the dick-ness worsened, you chose to ignore it and follow along like the Nazis.” Zayn says. 

Niall gasps a little at Zayn’s comment and something inside him snaps. “Not everyone’s a loner, Zayn.” Niall quips. Who does Zayn think he is to comment about his life like that? “Some people like having friends even if they’re difficult at times.” 

“Hey, if you prefer quantity over quality, that’s your problem.”

Niall scoffs and shakes his head at Zayn. “Look, I don’t agree with what they did. But maybe if you weren’t scowling all the time, you’d be invited to places.” 

“You’re right. It’s my fault. I should take up football and cow tipping. Then your friends would like me and I’d be the most popular boy in the whole school.” 

That’s it. Niall stands up, stopping his guitar playing altogether making Ms. Baxworth to look at him. “Is there a problem, Niall?” 

“Yeah, this music is totally messed up. There’s nothing to keep time to.” Niall says as he points to Zayn. 

“It sounds fine to me. He’s improving.” Ms, Baxworth says. 

“Not for me. He’s all over the place.” 

“I’m sorry. Is this better?” Zayn says as he plays some frantic tunes on the piano. “No? No? How about this?” Zayn plays the different music again. “Huh? What about this one?” Zayn stops abruptly and looks at Niall. “You don’t have a problem with the music, just the loser who’s playing it right?” Zayn stands up angrily and grabs his bagpack with him and he storms out from the class, passing towards Niall without even looking at the blonde-haired boy. 

Ms. Baxworth looks at Niall confusingly. “What just happened?” And to be honest, Niall doesn’t even know himself.

**

The dinner at the Malik’s house seems to be very depressing that night. Everyone is toying around with their foods. The silence is slowly suffocating the environment and Harry decides to speak up. 

“I need a new jacket.” Harry says to his father. 

“What’s wrong with your jacket?” Yasir asks. 

“It got stolen.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know who took it but he’s not going to give it back.” 

“You went to school today without your jacket? I didn’t notice that.” 

Zayn who is silence since the beginning, rolls his eyes and let out a loud _‘duh.’_

“Eat your pizza.” Yasir scolds Zayn before he turns his attention towards Harry again. “Who stole your jacket?” 

“The same kid who took my yo-yo.”

“Your yo-yo?” Zayn asks suddenly sitting straight on his seat. 

“At first I let him take stuff because I thought maybe he’d be my friend but now he just takes whatever he wants.” Harry confesses. 

Yasir shakes his head and stares at his youngest son. “Hazza, just because you want people to like you doesn’t mean that you have to give everything away.” 

Harry frowns a little. “Then how come you don’t charge your patients?” 

“That’s very different.” 

Zayn turns to look at his father, expecting him to continue. “Go on.” 

“This boy is stealing from your brother.” Yasir says to Zayn before he turns to face Harry again. “Harry, either you and I are going to have to talk to the teacher..”

“Forget it.” Zayn cuts his father off and looks at Harry. “You’re 13 years old now. You can kick his butt. That’s the only way to deal with a bully.”

Yasir glares at his eldest son. “That’s not true. There’s a proper way to deal with the situation..” 

“He took mum’s bookmark!” Harry exclaims at his father. 

“..and that’s to kick his butt.” 

**

“Hi Granny. Hi Irv. ” Niall greets as he sits beside his grandmother at the diner. His granny loves to hang out there with her new husband, Irv, especially on Friday night and Niall is not wrong when he found them at the diner. 

“Hey there! Aren’t you supposed to be at some fancy birthday party?” Niall’s granny asks as she looks at her youngest grandchild. 

“Yeah, I decided not to go. But I couldn’t stay home because then my mum would just bug me about how I have to be more social and that I can’t sit around moping about Liam all the time.” Niall explains. 

“You’re not moping. You’re about to have a bowl of ice cream with your grandparents.” Irv says as he stands up from the booth. “Thanks Irv.”Niall says when Irv decides to leave both of them in private. 

Niall lays his head on his grandmother’s shoulder and he feels his granny strokes his hair gently. “You know the only time you remind me of your father is when you got a sourpuss on. Spill it, Nialler.” 

Niall sighs before he speaks. “My friends. They basically pulled a _Heathers_ on me.” Niall can feel his granny nods. “I see.” She pauses a moment. “Well, actually I don’t. What does that mean?” 

“They uninvited a friend of mine to their party because they don’t think he’s popular enough and when I tried to talk to him about it and explain everything, he blew up at me.” Niall recounts the story back to his granny. 

“Well, his feelings were hurt. That’s normal, don’t you think?” 

Niall nods before he talks again. “I didn’t want to hurt him. But they’ve been my friends since I was in second grade. What was I supposed to do?” When his granny tilts her head to look at him, Niall sighs again. “Never mind. I know. I shouldn’t have let them treat him like that.” 

“It’s not easy to care about someone when the whole world is telling you not to. You have to live your own life, Nialler. Trust your instincts. They’re pretty good.” 

Niall smiles. “Must be my genes.” 

“That..and a bladder like a yak.” His granny says and Niall burst out laughing. 

**

Niall takes a deep breath at the entrance of the library. He knows that the boy that he really wants to see at the moment will be hanging out at the library at time like this. Niall’s prediction turns out to be true as soon as he sees the dark-haired boy leans against one of the bookshelves. 

“So, I heard you like Mr. Midwife last night.” Niall starts the conversation when he reaches the taller boy, making Zayn jumps a little at the sudden greeting. 

“Well, I prefer ‘junior resident’ but it was pretty cool.” Zayn replies. The thing is the night before he had helped his father to deliver a baby at the doughnut shop. It was a long story but the main point was they couldn’t get the woman to the nearest hospital in time and his dad decided to play Dr. Superman with Zayn as his assistant. 

“She was lucky to have you guys there.” Niall comments and smiles. In this small town, everyone knows and cares for each other. And the lady that Dr. Malik had helped the night before is one of their town’s people. 

Zayn shrugs sheepishly. “It was mostly my dad. I basically supplied the shoelace. You know, to cut the cord.” And he facepalm himself mentally as Niall looks blankly at him. Which teenage boys know about cutting the cord after a childbirth? Geek. Zayn thought to himself. 

“So, how was the party?” Zayn asks, changing the subject. 

“I didn’t go.” Niall replies shortly. 

“You didn’t? Why not?” 

Niall stares at Zayn. “I think you know why.” Niall pauses before he continues. “You scare me, Zayn.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “Well that doesn’t sound good.” 

“No. No. I think it is. You..” Niall trails off. “When you first got here, I know I got to know you for all of the wrong reasons. Friendship wasn’t exactly at the top of my list. But as it turns out you’re really funny and weird and now you’re like this guy in my life that I care about.” Niall rambles before he stops. Does that make any sense?” 

Zayn gives Niall a serious look before he starts to speak up. “Define _weird_.” 

Niall laughs. “I think you just need to cut me some slack once in a while.”

“Define _slack_.” Zayn teases Niall again, making the blonde-haired boy rolls his eyes and laughs. 

“Idiot!” Niall curses fondly at Zayn and both of them left the library with a big smile plastered on their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit: Everwood


	4. Grounded

“Alrighty, I’ll have it around by 2.” Danny says and closes his phone afterwards. 

“Let me guess. Another one of your dealings in the student favor cartel.” Zayn who is walking besides Danny, says.

“That was my mom’s mechanic.” Danny explains. “You’ll find my reach extends far beyond our high school walls, Malik.” 

“Just out of curiosity, when do you find time for things like..oh, I don’t know, homework?” Zayn asks as he looks at his new friend. 

Danny seems to ignore his question as his eyes stares at something in front of his locker. “An abundance of riches.” 

“Why do you have pieces of nature on your locker?” Zayn asks as he finally looks at the thing in front of Danny’s locker. 

“Are you aware of the fall dance that’s coming up?” Danny asks. 

Zayn shrugs carelessly. “I’ve seen some posters.” 

“See, the fall dance is special in that it’s one of the dances where the girls ask the boys. And the way they ask us is sort of tradition around here. Once the girls choose an item, they tie a ribbon around it, sign their names to it and place it on your locker to invite you. Well, if you happen to like guys, it doesn’t really matter who asks who anyway.” Danny explains. “Check your locker.” 

“That’s okay. I think I’ll pass.” Zayn says without really care about it as he left Danny and walks to his own locker. He knows he won’t get any invitation to the dance. He is new and everyone thinks he is a freak, so why hoping, right? He is about to reach his own locker when he sees something in front of his locker. There is a small paper attached to the flower in front of his locker and Zayn glances around only to find no one else there. He reads the words on the small paper and let out a small smile. 

 

__

To: Zayn. 

From: Niall.

**

 

Zayn walks nervously towards the blonde-haired boy at the library. He smiles slightly as he sees the boy scribbles down some notes in concentration. He walks closer and about to greet Niall when the blonde-haired boy looks up. “Hey, Zayn. What’s up?” Niall asks with a grin. 

Zayn swallows nervously as he stares at the beautiful boy in front of him. “Nothing. I just wanted to ask you..” Zayn trails off before he cuts off by someone who is sitting beside Niall. Sean, of course. “FYI, only the girls are supposed to give the pinecones.” Sean says referring to the pinecones in Zayn’s hand. 

“Well, I’m aware of that, Sean.” Zayn snaps annoyingly. He ignores Sean and looks at Niall again. “Somebody left this for me on my locker.” 

“Who?” Niall asks surprisingly and at that moment Zayn knows he had been pranked, _again._ Because as soon as the question left Niall’s mouth, Zayn heard somebody laughs behind him. And that somebody is none other than Louis. _Of course._ “I don’t know.” Zayn mumbles, feeling stupid all of sudden. 

Niall shakes his head as he finally realizes what exactly is happening. “Zayn..you didn’t think that I..” Niall trails apologetically as Zayn cuts him off. “No. No. I was just confirming.” 

Zayn turns around and strides towards Louis and his friends who are snickering and laughing over his expense. “I guess I overestimated you dude. I thought you’d come up with a new way of messing with me.” Zayn says as he walks passes through the jerks. 

“Why bother dude? You keep falling for the same joke.” Louis quips follows by the laughter of his friends. 

Niall closes his book and grabs his bag before he stands up from his seat angrily. He glares at Louis as he passes through his older brother and jogs towards Zayn who is walking quickly ahead of him. 

“I want to apologize for my brother. I know he’s a jerk sometimes.” Niall starts as he tries to keep up with Zayn’s fast pace. 

“Well, try ‘all the time.’” Zayn snaps. 

“If it makes you feel any better, Zayn, I didn’t ask you to dance is because I’m not going with anyone. I’m not even going myself.” Niall explains. 

“Fine. Whatever.” Zayn says, dismissing Niall’s explanation. 

“It’d just be weird. Last year I asked Liam..” Niall continues but he suddenly cut off as Zayn abruptly stops walking and stares at Niall angrily. 

“I said, fine! I don’t care, okay. I don’t need to hear about your stupid boyfriend every other minute. I get it, okay? I get it.” Zayn says before he storms off, leaving Niall alone at the hallway. 

 

**

 

Yasir stirs his tea and stares at Zayn quietly. Zayn raises his eyebrow at his father. “What? What is it? Are you moving us to Zimbabwe or something?” 

“No. No. It’s nothing like that. I was just thinking about something.” Yasir says before he continues. “It’s funny actually. Well it’s not so much funny ‘ha ha’ as..you see..the thing is, I don’t know whether or not you’ve ever had sex.” 

Zayn almost chokes on his apple and shakes his head at his father. “And you never will.” Before he walks away from the kitchen and leaves his father alone. “Okay then! Good talking to you!” Yasir replies to thin air. 

Yasir sips on his tea silently before Harry’s voice is filling the silence. “My beanie! Dad!” Yasir stands up quickly and rushes to his youngest son’s voice. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Look at my beanie.” Harry says as he waves his beanie in his hand in front of his father. 

“Looks clean to me.” Yasir says as he stares blankly at his youngest son. 

“You did something wrong.” Harry whines. 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “I put it in the washing machine like you asked me too.” 

“And then?” 

“And then I put it in the dryer.” 

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Harry says sarcastically. 

“I shouldn’t have put it in the dryer?” 

“Mom always washed it in the dishwasher.” Harry explains. 

“You didn’t tell me that last night.”

Harry shakes his head. “I didn’t think it’d come to this.” 

“Why don’t you just wear another one of your beanies?” Yasir suggests. Harry always wears his dark green beanie eventhough Yasir knows Harry owns a lot of other beanies in his wardrobe. 

“I can’t. This is the best one.” 

“Says who?” 

Harry sighs. “Never mind. I can make it fit.” Harry says as he tries to put on his ruined beanie. 

 

**

 

“Did you see how Brett totally annihilated Beth Kroehner yesterday when she tried to give him a pinecone?” Sean asks Niall as they are walking at the hallway. Niall nods absent mindedly as he stares at the dark-haired boy who is walking towards his direction and Niall is about to smile at him when he just walking passes by Niall without even a slight glance. Niall doesn’t even want to admit it, but his heart is hurting by Zayn’s action. 

 

** 

 

“Hi Nick.” Harry greets as he approaches his bully. Nick seems to ignore Harry since he is too engrossed in his game with one of the other boys. “Can I play next?” Harry asks and Nick replies, “no way.” 

“Why not?” 

“I’m not playing with some stupid curly-haired boy.” 

“I’m not stupid!” Harry exclaimed. 

“Yes you are. Now get lost, dark-green beanie.” 

“I thought you liked green.” 

“I never said that. Take a hike.” Nick says, dismissing Harry. “Yeah, take a hike.” The other boy who is playing with Nick, pipes in. Harry turns dejectedly and walks away. When he is going to find a new friend? 

 

** 

 

“Have you decided who you’re asking to the fall dance this year, Niall?” Maura asks as she looks at his youngest son across the dinner table. 

Louis burst out laughing at his mum’s question and Niall rolls his eyes. “It’s not funny, jackass.” 

“Niall. Language.” Bobby scolds and Niall rolls his eyes again. He doesn’t understand why he is the one who keeps being told off when he uses inappropriate language. Everyone seems to think that he is still a baby which is ridiculous, really. 

“It’s not a big deal. It’s not like you’ll ask him anyways.” Louis says to his little brother. 

“That’s not the point, Lou. Besides, you don’t know that for a fact.” Niall replies. 

“Oh so you would’ve asked him. Well, you better thank me then because I probably saved your entire reputation.” Louis quips. Niall rolls his eyes at his brother, _again._

“You would’ve asked who what? What are we talking about?” Bobby asks as he glances towards both of his sons back and forth. 

Niall shakes his head. “Nothing. I’m not asking anybody to the dance, okay. Let’s just change the subject.” Niall says as he continues eating his foods in front of him. 

“Sweetheart, Liam wouldn’t want you to sit home alone..” Maura says before Niall cut his mom off. 

“Can we just drop it, please?” Niall snaps. The rest of the table falls into silence after that and Niall feels a little bit guilty but he is tired of acting like he is fine without Liam when he is not. 

“Well I have an announcement to make.” Bobby says, breaking the silence. “Due to your mother’s warped sense of humor, I’m going to hosting a sex-education assembly at your high school this week.” 

Niall and Louis both choke on their foods as they look at their father horrifically. 

“I realize this may be a bit uncomfortable for the both of you considering the highly sensitive subject matter. Which is why I wanted to open it up to a family discussion. Any thoughts?” 

Bobby looks at his eldest son and Louis shakes his head frantically. He then looks at Niall, waiting for his response. “Is this because Susie Clark got VD?” 

It’s Bobby’s turn to choke on his foods instead. He quickly sips on his drink. 

“How do you know about Susie Clark?” Maura asks her youngest son. 

Niall shrugs. “Everybody knows.” 

“I didn’t know.” Louis says. 

Niall stares at his brother disbelievingly. “How could you not know? You dated her.” 

And Bobby Horan spits his drinks and starts to cough. 

“Anyways, what’s the big deal about gonorrhea? It’s completely curable.” Niall asks his father. “Unlike the herp, which never goes away, right dad?”

Maura shakes her head uncomfortably. “I think your father will be covering all of this at the assembly.” She pauses. “Now, would anybody like dessert?” 

 

**

 

“I never know this will bother you so much.” Yasir says. 

“Well, now you know.” Zayn replies. “So now you can go back to school and tell them that you changed your mind.” 

“This bread is hurting my teeth.” Harry mumbles quietly since his father and Zayn are still arguing. Harry sighs and shakes his head as nobody is listening to him. Typical. 

“I can’t do that, Zayn. Besides your mom went to all the PTA meetings and she was a member of the school board, you have to remember that.” Yasir points out his point as he puts on a plate on the dinner table. 

Zayn rolls his eyes at his father as he stares at the plate in front of him. “Mom used to make banana bread for the bake sales. She didn’t frontline in any of sex assemblies.” 

“Well, you’ve seen my cooking. I can’t do bake sales.” Yasir jokes. 

“I’m serious.” Zayn quips. 

“Zayn, what is it you want from me?” Yasir sighs. 

“I want you not to do this. If you do it’s gonna make my life even more unbearable that it already is which is not even humanly possible.” 

“Well, if it’s not even humanly possible for your life to get worse, then what’s the problem?” 

“Yeah. What’s the problem?” Harry pipes in, trying to join the conversation. 

“Shut up.” Zayn says as he glares at his little brother. 

“Look, Zayn. I think you’re being a bit melodramatic. It’s not like I’m not trying to ruin your life.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “You don’t have to try. You do it pretty naturally.” 

“What is it that I’m doing that’s so terrible?” 

“Everyone in the school will be going around talking about how Dr. Malik is a big sex expert and how his loser son can’t even get a date to the stupid dance.”

Yasir looks up from his food and stares at his eldest son. “What dance? What are you talking about?” He asks Zayn confusingly. 

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

“Is that the reason why you don’t want me to come to your school because you wanna go to a dance? I’m confused.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Why do I even need a reason? Why can’t you just be a father instead of a doctor for once?” 

“Zayn, when I was in neurosurgery, I could never help people before they got sick. I couldn’t prevent their sickness. I can do that now.” 

“So if you miss this assembly kids all over town are going drop dead from having unsafe sex? Well, it’s good thing you’re there for them, Dr. Malik.” Zayn says sarcastically as he stands up from his seat. “Maybe one day I’ll know what it’s like for you to be here for me.” 

 

**

 

Niall is walking alone towards the entrance of the school when he spots Zayn. He approaches the dark-haired boy and Zayn starts to speak to him. “Hey.” 

“Are we back to greeting each other?” Niall asks with a small smile. 

“I am if you are.” 

“I was never mad at you, Zayn.” Niall assures. 

“Well, you should’ve been. I said some pretty stupid things the other day. I’m sorry.” Zayn apologizes. 

“Well, let’s stop with the back-and-forth apologies and just assume we’re both like sorry forever?” Niall suggests as he smiles at Zayn. 

Zayn smiles back at Niall and nods. “Yeah, okay. Deal.” 

“Can you believe our dads are coming to the school today? Must be the end of the world or something.” Niall says as they are walking together towards the school’s entrance. 

“I know. It’s bad enough I have to see him every morning and night. Afternoons are kind of my time off.” 

Niall nods, agreeing with Zayn’s point. “I know what you mean. I kind of hate both of my parents lately.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows disbelievingly. “Really? You seem like such a well-adjusted family unit.” 

Niall rolls his eyes. “Sure. My father’s OCD. My brother’s ADD and my mother is just plain crazy.” 

“Yeah? And what are you?” Zayn asks, staring at the boy beside him, waiting for his response. 

Niall stops walking and stares at Zayn. “I’m tired. And this dance is just making me feel worse. My mom keeps bugging me about it. It’s like no one understands why this is hard for me.” Niall’s voice breaks a little. “I just wanted to ask him, you know?” Niall says with a sad little smile. “Like last year. I just want to feel normal again just for one second instead of how I feel now.” 

Zayn stares at Niall and nods. “If that’s what you want to do, then you should do it.” Zayn says encouragingly. 

“What are you talking about?” Niall asks, confuses with Zayn’s words. 

“Ask Liam to the dance. He’s three hours away from her. Four by bus. If we wanna make it back by dinner, we’ll have to leave now.” Zayn says, recounting the words from Niall not too long ago. 

“Zayn…” Niall trails off, unsure whether Zayn is serious or not. 

“I’m serious Niall. I would give anything to be able to talk to my mom again. It wouldn’t matter to me if she could answer. I’d just be happy to see her.” 

 

**

 

“My mom said you can come over tomorrow after school if you want.” Harry almost chokes on his lunch when he hears Nick’s voice. He glances around to see if there is anybody else that Nick is talking to instead of him but found no one. 

“Are your ears broken or something?” 

“I thought you didn’t like me.” Harry says confusingly. 

“Don’t be dumb. I talk to you, don’t I? So do you want to come over or not?” 

Harry nods. “I guess so.” People are weird sometimes, Harry thought to himself. 

 

**

 

“..and the decorating committee’s going all out this year. Ally’s mom wants to turn the gym into a magical forest. I know it sounds bizarre but Ally says her mom is practically a professional at this stuff so it should look amazing..” Niall trails off and stops talking afterwards. He had been seating besides Liam’s hospital bed for a while and started to talk about random things until he feels his throat drying. The only response that he gets is only the beep sound from Liam’s heart monitor. 

“I guess now the only thing that’s missing is you and me..which is why I’m here.” Niall says as he swallows thickly. “I know it’s last minute and everything but..” Niall puts on a pinecone in Liam’s limp hand and continues. “..would you go the dance with me? You can say yes anytime, Li. Just open your eyes and say yes.” Niall’s voice breaks as he begs for Liam to open his eyes. “Just open your eyes, Liam. Please.” 

 

**

 

“And the question-and-answer session went great.” Yasir tells his youngest son. 

“That’s great dad.” Harry says unenthusiastically. 

Yasir looks at his youngest son. “You seem upset. Something wrong?”

Harry shrugs. “It’s Nick.” 

“The bully? Is he bothering you again?” 

“Not exactly. You see when it’s just me and him, he’s nice to me. But when other people are around, he says I’m diseased.” 

Yasir nods. “So you like him?” 

“I sit behind him in Maths class and sometimes I just want to put my hands on his shoulders.”

 _Oh._ Yasir swallows at the awkward conversation. This is where he needs a woman’s touch. “Maybe we should see if Nina’s home.” Yasir says referring to his neighbor who he is always relying on regarding this matter. 

“I don’t understand. Why doesn’t he wants anyone to know that he invited me over? I want to tell the whole world.” 

“Well you know honey, boys and girls are very different. Not on just how they look on the outside but how they work things out in the inside. For instance, when you wanna be friends with a boy, you might wanna bake him cookies.” 

“Or touch his shoulders?” 

Yasir blinks. ”Right. Okay. But if a boy wants to be friends with you, he might punch you as a sign of friendship.” 

“Really? Because he did flick my beanie.” Harry asks his father with a little smile on his face. 

“He did?” 

 

**

 

“Hey, take it easy.” Zayn says as he looks at Niall eating besides him hungrily. “You don’t have to inhale it.” 

“I’m so starving. I had no idea.” Niall says with his mouth full of foods. He finishes his plate and turns to look at Zayn. “Thank you for coming with me, Zayn.” 

“It’s cool. I was pretty hungry too.” Zayn jokes. 

Niall chuckles and punches Zayn lightly on his shoulder. “No, I mean for coming all the way out here and the hospital and everything. It means a lot to me.” 

“Yeah, well I didn’t really want to be in school today what with my dad being a porn king.” 

Niall shakes his head and smiles. “Was it this bad in London?” 

“You mean was I this big a geek back home?” 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Niall backtracks. He just wants to get to know Zayn. 

“It’s okay. I almost went to one dance at my old school. The winter semiformal. I asked Blake Adams to go. He wasn’t the most popular boy in school but he was the prettiest. He had this whole punk look going on which most guys in high school can’t pull off but he did. Anyway, my friends dared me to ask him, I did and he actually said yes which was like a total shock. The day of the dance, he called. He was sick. He can’t go. Now of course I can’t tell my mom this because she was so excited for me and I didn’t want her to know what a loser he son was. So I get all dressed up in my suit, grabbed the corsage and left like I was going to go to pick up Blake. Except of course I don’t. I ended up spending time at the arcade.” 

Niall stares at Zayn. “I take it Blake wasn’t really sick?” 

Zayn shakes his head and smiles. “Turns out he was. He had mono and was out for the rest of the semester.” 

“So you weren’t geeky at all.” Niall smiles. 

They talks for a while before suddenly Niall’s eyes stops at the clock on the diner’s wall. “Is that the right time?” Niall asks as the clock shows 9.10pm. “We missed our bus.” 

Zayn shrugs carelessly. “We’ll catch the next one.” 

“There is no next one.” Niall says and sighs. 

“Well, that could be a problem.” Zayn says, stating the obvious.

 

**

 

“You think I should call the police or is..is that crazy?” Harry ignores his father’s ranting. “No, it’s too soon to call the police, don’t you think?” Yasir continues and Harry finally rolls his eyes. However, Yasir doesn’t seem like he wants to stop at any moment. “How could he get lost? And why wasn’t he in school? Did he get lost on his way to school?” 

“Dad! You gotta get a grip!” Harry says, finally after listening to his father pointless ranting for about half an hour. Harry is about to say something else when someone knocks on their front door. 

“Dr. Horan?” Yasir asks surprisingly as he looks at the person standing in front of his house. 

“Wondering where your little hoodlum is?” Bobby asks. 

“You know where Zayn is?” 

“Grab your coat. We’re going to the next town.” 

 

**

 

“My dad is gonna kill me.” Niall says as he bites his nails, a habit that he picks up when he’s nervous. 

“I’m sure he’ll understand when you tell him why you went.” Zayn assures. 

“That’s not the way it works in my house.” Niall says. 

“How does it work?” 

“He yells, I apologize, there’s a sentencing or some sort and then I plea-bargain with my mom until the sentence is reduced.” 

Zayn chuckles. “In my house, it’s more like I yell, he yells. We both keep yelling and eventually someone gets tired.” 

Niall grins as he eats his last chips. “Sounds good to me.” 

“Niall.” Niall’s head turns towards the voice that belongs to his father and he stands up from the diner booth. “Dad, I..” Niall tries to explain before he is crushed into a tight embrace from his father. 

Zayn stands up to see his father a couple of booths away and walks passes through his father. “I’ll be in the car.” Yasir watches Zayn goes away and turns to look at Bobby Horan and his youngest son. 

“Niall, why didn’t you call sooner?” Yasir hears Bobby asks his son as they’re still hugging each other.

“I’m so sorry I worried you dad.” Niall says and Yasir smiles at the boy’s words. The boy sounds so sweet. 

“As long as you’re all right. That’s all that matters.” Bobby says as he kisses his youngest son’s temple. 

Yasir sighs as he watches the scene in front of him. Why can’t he and Zayn be like them? 

 

**

 

“Louis..” Bobby calls his eldest son. “..is there anything you want to talk to me about?” 

Louis raises his eyebrows. “I am so sorry Dad. It’s just a scratched bumper. It’s not even my fault. I’m pulling out of this space and this lady comes flying..” 

“Let me put it in another way.” Bobby says as he takes a seat in front of his eldest son. “Is there anything that you need to be tested for..medically?” 

Louis leans closer to his father. “Can I get something from a scratched bumper?”

Bobby sighs at his eldest son’s cluelessness. “Concerning the STD at your school.” 

Louis blinks his eyes. _Oh._ “All right, dad. I’m gonna let you in on something that may blow your mind. You think you can handle it?”

“I doubt it but try me.” 

“Okay..here’s the problem. I’m aware that I’m very attractive but I haven’t..you know..done anything…you know..” 

Bobby Horan is taken aback a little. “Oh.” 

“Except my reasons have less to do with religion and more to do with the fact that my girlfriends won’t which is why I’m so done with freshmen. Anyway, I didn’t want you worrying about me anymore. But if you could keep this info between us, you know.” Louis rambles. 

“Well, son. This is the best talk we’ve ever had.” Bobby says before he continues. “You scratched the bumper.” And that is the cue for Louis to stand up and leave his father alone at the living room. 

 

**

 

“I’m bored.” Nick says as he puts down his controller. Harry follows his steps and nods. “Me too. I beat you like 7000 times on this game.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not too fun for me either. You want to play something better?”

Harry nods. “Okay.” 

Nick stands up and opens up his wardrobe. “Help me push it out.” Nick gestures to the big box. 

Harry’s goes wide as soon as Nick opens the box after they drag it out. Inside the box lays couple of dolls and Harry gasps in surprise. “Which one do I get?” 

“I’ll pick one for you.” Nick says as he grins widely at Harry. 

 

**

 

“I’m sorry I worried you last night.” Zayn apologizes to his father as he sees his father sitting in the living room.

“What makes you think I was worried?” Yasir asks. When Zayn doesn’t reply, Yasir continues. “Okay, I was worried.” 

“Well, I’m sorry. I’ll call you next time.” Zayn says and he is about to turn away from his father when Yasir speaks up. 

“There won’t be a next time. You’re grounded for the next two weeks. That means no TV, no phone, no going out.” 

Zayn shrugs, a little bit surprise but he thinks he deserves it. “Is that all?” 

“If I ever hear that you cut class again, it’ll be for a month, understood?” 

“Yeah. Understood.” 

“Good. So, you missed the assembly.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Look, I already know about safe sex, okay? Mom covered it with me.” 

“Maybe she did, but I haven’t.” Yasir says as he gestures towards the empty seat in front of him, signaling for Zayn to sit and listen. Zayn groans but sits nonetheless. 

“When I was first working in London, I had to perform a lumbar puncture. It’s basically a spinal tap on this kid who’d been brought in. Couldn’t have been more than 17 years old. Good-looking, clean-cut well-to-do family. His name was Alfie. I remember that because it was so unusual. Anyway, I did the LP, assessed that there were no meningitis and went about my rounds. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Alfie all night. I found out later that the doctors were performing all sorts of tests. A couple of days later I went back to Alfie’s room just to check him out thinking maybe I could figure out what he had but Alfie was already dead. Seventeen years old. Six months and thousands of Alfies later, his sickness finally got a name.” 

“AIDS.” Zayn says in a realization. 

Yasir nods. “I needed you to know why I had to come to your school, Zayn. I needed you to hear that story because I want you always to be careful. I can’t afford to lose another person I love.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” 

“I have no idea how to get your attention, Zayn.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It means I don’t know what to say to you. One day, you seem to hate me, the next day you still hate me and other days you just hate me. I mean that’s not a lot to work with. So if you could maybe let me know when I do say the right thing, I’ll make a note of it and I’ll do it more often, okay?” 

Zayn nods. “Yeah. Sure. I mean I.. I can maybe do that.” 

Yasir smiles at his eldest son. “Great. Thanks. You’re still grounded.”

“I know.” Zayn replies, rolling his eyes but smiles nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still credit to Everwood


	5. Home

“Come on, kiddo. Time for bed.” Yasir calls to his youngest son as they get out from the car. Zayn walks first, leaving his father to deal with Harry. His legs kick something on the ground and he bends down to pick it up. It’s the small town’s newspaper and Zayn opens the first page. “I think I know what it means to miss London and then I read the Mullingar’s Pinecone.” Zayn continues rambling to his father and Harry about the newspaper as they are walking together towards their house. They stops abruptly when they see the front door is open. 

“You think somebody’s inside?” Zayn asks and looks at his father. 

“Both of you wait here. I’ll check it out.” Yasir tells his sons. He then walks towards the door and opens it slightly. The house is still in the dark and Yasir switches on the light. He looks around only to find a mess inside the house. “Hello?” He calls out. He walks further inside when no one answers. “Is anybody here?” He grabs the umbrella besides the wall and holds it tightly in case he will use it as a weapon. He is walking towards the living room when suddenly he sees _it_. A deer. 

 

**

 

“You forgot to buy milk.” Harry says to his dad during their breakfast the next morning. Harry then talks about his schoolmates when suddenly his neighbor, Nina comes in. 

“Good morning.” Nina greets and Harry’s dad replies with a warm welcome. Harry waves politely as Nina walks towards them. “Cookies! Made a big batch last night. A little too big for my son so you luck out.” She announces as she hands the plate of cookies to Harry. Harry grins widely and says his thanks to Nina. 

“Did you know there’s a small deer on your front porch?” Nina asks as soon as she sits. 

“It took two hours and four broken lamps just to get it out of the house. I consider the porch a victory.” Yasir replies. 

Zayn walks in to the kitchen and as soon as he sees Nina, he starts to ask the question. “Did you see him?” Zayn asks, referring to the deer. 

“You mean _her_?” Nina replies. “No antlers.” She continues. 

“Deer have antlers?” Zayn asks as he grabs his first bite of cookies. 

“Poor thing. Most of the pussytoes and skunkbush die off in the early winter so they have to come down to the lower altitudes for food. They don’t usually make it to this town but it happens.” Nina explains. 

“Well perhaps we should reward her ambition.” Zayn says. “Call Animal Control.” He continues. 

Nina shrugs at Zayn’s suggestion. “Well, I wouldn’t bother. They usually wander back on their own.” 

Yasir nods as he sips his coffee slowly. “Well, it’s welcome to our garbage which you are welcome to take out.” Yasir says to Zayn. Zayn nods and goes out to take out the garbage. 

“You forgot to buy juice too.” Harry suddenly says and Yasir stares at his son. “Eat your cookie.” 

 

**

 

Harry startles a little when Nick who is sitting beside him sneezes. “God bless you.” Harry says. 

Nick raises his eyebrows in confusion. “Why did you say that?” 

“You sneezed.” Harry says like it is the normal things in the world. 

“So? I don’t believe in God.” Nick shrugs. 

Harry stops on what he is doing and stares at Nick. “What do you mean you don’t believe in God? Everyone does.” Harry says confusingly. 

Nick shrugs carelessly. “It’s like Santa. They just tell kid about God to get them to go bed on time or stop picking their scabs”

“Then who made everything” Harry challenges Nick’s statement. 

“I don’t know. But not God. He isn’t real.” Nick replies.

“Well, I believe in him.” 

“Oh yeah? Where is he?” Nick asks Harry.

“Everywhere. Heaven.” Harry replies to Nick.

“Prove it.” Nick says and Harry takes it as a challenge. 

 

**

 

“I need to consult you.” Zayn stops walking as Niall is suddenly popping up beside him. 

“I don’t think I’m qualified to advise anyone right now.” Zayn replies. 

Niall smiles at Zayn and shakes his head. “Oh, this is your specialty. I need some fresh reading material. I thought I’d give your comics a whirl.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows and looks at Niall. “I thought you liked beauty magazines and book about ponies.” 

Niall laughs at Zayn’s lame joke. “It’s for Liam. I finished reading him Call of the Wild. I need something easy on the eyes.” When Zayn doesn’t reply and looks hesitate, Niall pulls out his puppy face. “Come on, lend me one please?”

Zayn shakes his head. Who could resist those beautiful blue eyes? “Well, we have an assortment of manga imports although Japanese story telling might be a little bit too much for him.” Zayn says as he brings out the comics from his bag. “Or the latest Green Lantern. Traditional good-thriumphs-over-evil-stuff.” 

Niall’s face breaks into a big smile as he takes the comic from Zayn. “Perfect. Thank you!” Niall puts the comic in his bad before he looks up to see Zayn again. “I saw you in Mrs. Litman’s office. What was that about?” 

“Oh, that? Apparently my serve is off.” Zayn explains. 

“She noticed you broke the record, right?” Niall asks and when Zayn looks at him blankly, Niall starts to explain. “Longest period of new-kid denial in the annals of County High.” 

“I knew this town had an underbelly but I had no idea about the annals.” Zayn admits. 

“New kids around here usually spend the first few weeks treading water. No new friends, coasting through classes, lockers strangely undecorated. ‘Oh, I’m not from here, just a temporary stop until my parents’ divorce settles or whatever and they can go back to their real home.” Niall explains. “Usually lasts about a month but eventually they settle in.” Niall continues as he smiles at Zayn.

“Not without a fight.” Zayn replies and Niall let out a small laughs. “See you later, Ham. Thanks for the loan.” Niall says and turns around heading to his next class, leaving Zayn stares at his back longingly. 

 

**

 

Yasir get out of his car and looks around when suddenly he sees _it_. He stares at it disbelievingly. “Zayn, what is that outside?” Yasir asks as soon as he walks into the house and spots his son at the kitchen. 

“A doe. A deer. A female deer.” Zayn replies shortly. 

“You know all you had to do is be here when they came.” Yasir says, referring to the Animal Control that was supposed to take away the deer. “If that’s too much for your schedule..” 

“I was here.” Zayn cuts off his father. 

“And they came?” 

“Oh yeah.” 

“Then why is that thing is still out there on our lawn?” 

“Because the guy was gonna dump it on a rifle range and paint a bull’s eye on her.” Zayn explains. 

“Well, what are gonna do? It can’t stay here.” Yasir asks as he stares at his eldest son. 

“I’m gonna take her home.” Zayn replies. 

“Say again?” 

“I’m gonna take her home.” 

“You do realize that deer live in the woods?” Yasir asks. “Up in the mountains?” He continues when Zayn doesn’t reply. “Outside?”

“She’s from protective reserve a few hours from here. I already got it mapped out. I’ll get a ride in the morning and hike overnight. Why are you laughing at me?” Zayn asks annoyed at his father who suddenly burst into laughing. 

“Well, for one, you don’t know a thing about hiking. And two, you don’t know a thing about hiking.” Yasir says amusingly. “Forget about it, you’re not going.” 

“I am so.” Zayn replies stubbornly and turns away to head to his bedroom, leaving his father alone. 

 

**

 

Yasir watches as Zayn leaves and shakes his head at his stubborn son. He starts to clean up the table and starts to throw away the cookies into the bin when suddenly Harry yells at him. “No!” 

“What’s the matter?” Yasir asks. 

“You threw away the cookies! Those were for God.” Harry exclaims. 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “For God?” 

“I thought if I left cookies and God ate them, it’d prove he’s real.” Harry explains. 

“I thought cookies were Santa.” 

“God could like cookies.” Harry says. 

“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” 

Harry looks at his father and starts to speak up again. “Nick sneezed and said God wasn’t real.” 

“And you want to prove Nick wrong.” Yasir states as a matter of fact. 

Harry rolls his eyes. “Duh!” 

Yasir nods. “I can get behind that. How about I fix up the fresh plate for the big guy?” 

 

**

 

“Nialll!” Bobby calls his youngest son. “Niall!” He calls out again. 

Niall sighs as he hears his father calls his name for the second time. “I didn’t forget. I’ll rake the lawn in….19 pages.” Niall says as he refuses to put down the book in his hand. 

“Never mind.” Bobby says as he walks towards his son who is lying on the couch lazily. “Your chores are temporarily suspended.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows. “I need you to write a press bio on me for the Mullingar’s Pinecone. Davenport needs it early afternoon.” Niall sighs as he hears his father’s request. 

“I can’t. I have a chem lab due and I have to write a villanelle for poetry which I’m going to do right after I find out what a villanelle is. And I have to finish early so I can have tomorrow free to see Liam in the hospital. I’m sorry. “Niall says and looks back at his book.

Bobby shakes his head. “You know, your father has just received a rather prestigious award. It won’t hurt your college-tuition account for the patient population to be reminded of his achievements.” 

Niall suddenly sits up and takes the letter from his father’s hand. “What award?” Niall reads the words on the letter. “ _Excellence and Dedication_. That’s great. How were you picked?” 

“Well, it’s a complicated process. Simply put they calculate which doctors spent the greatest number of days attending to patients without interruption.” Bobby says to his son. 

Niall blinks his eyes, once, twice. “What, like an attendance award?” 

“I’ll need to prove it first knowing your facility with the run-ons.”

Niall shakes his head and gives the letter back to his father. “Forget it. Too busy. Ask Louis.”

“Oh. Well then I guess you don’t really want that new acoustic guitar that we looked at the store last week.” 

“You’re kidding.” Niall gasps and looks at his father with wide eyes. 

Bobby shakes his head and stars to turn away. “On my desk, by noon.” 

 

**

 

“You are holding up okay, Harry?” Nina asks at the boy who is sitting at her living room. 

“Yes. Almost finished with my math homework.” Harry replies. He then goes back to his homework before he stops. “Nina?” Harry calls. 

“Yes?” Nina replies. 

“Has anyone ever talked to God?” 

“How’s that?” Nina asks, looking at Harry. 

Harry stares back at Nina and talks again. “God. Do people ever talk to him?” 

“All the time I suspect.” 

“How do you know when he answers?” 

“I guess when you get what you want.” That’s all that Nina can replies with. 

“But does he ever do anything?” Harry asks again. 

Nina shakes her head and smiles at Harry. “How about I just tell you where babies come from?” 

“You don’t believe in God either?” 

 

**

 

“I asked for more shading under the neck.” 

Niall rolls his eyes at his father. “You wanted me to turn your jowls into chin. Don’t abuse the digital age.” 

“Davenport confirmed receipt?” 

Niall nods. “Hours ago.” Bobby smiles at his son and ruffles his hair affectionately. “You just earned an 8-percent increase in allowance eventhough you did manage to make my surgery rotation sound like a dalliance. I only wish I could be there to see the look on that nut’s face when he reads this tonight.” 

“Who? Dr. Malik?” Niall asks. “You so have a boy crush on him.” Niall deadpans. 

Bobby gasps in horror at his son’s comment. “My issue with Dr. Malik is neither flirtation nor rivalry. It is a crusade to protect both him and this town from the potentially lethal results of his dementia. And I loathe him.” 

“Only problem is he won’t see it. He’s gone all weekend and won’t be back till tomorrow.” Niall says. 

“He’s out of town?” 

“Yeah. Some weird deer quest.” 

“Ah, well, then. That’s all right. Good work. You get back to your villanelle.” Bobby trails off and takes off as soon as Niall turns his head back towards his notebook. 

 

**

 

“Harry? You want to watch movie?” Nina asks softly as Harry is sitting alone at the front porch, looking at the empty road in front of the house. 

“My mom says that she used to go to synagogue to talk to God. Could we go to one?” 

“The nearest synagogue is two hours away.” Nina says and when Harry is still silent, Nina asks again. “Why all the recon about God today?” 

“I just wanted to know about God because if there’s no God, then there’s no heaven.” 

“And there’s no heaven..” Nina trails off, trying to pick up on Harry’s point. 

“Then where’s my mom?” 

And it takes every fibre in Nina’s body to not burst into tears in front of Harry. Sometimes, she forgets that Harry lost his mom so early in his age. 

 

** 

 

Nina walks slowly towards the kid and touches his shoulder softly. “Harry? Wake up, honey.” 

“Huh?” Harry opens his eyes and stares at Nina. 

“Wake up, then we’re having a breakfast and we can go.” Nina says. 

Harry sits up and looks at Nina confusingly. “Go where?” 

“To see a rabbi.” Nina replies. 

It takes about an hour before they reaches their destination. “Are we in the Army?” Harry asks. 

“Closest rabbi outside of a chat room.” Nina says. It is her old friend actually. “Commander Busto.” 

“Ma’am Nina. Long time no see.” The man says. 

“So, this young man here has a question for you concerning your faith. What’s required is the answer for how you know God exists.” Nina explains to the army guy and Harry nods, confirming on Nina’s request. 

“There are three essential proofs for the existence of an omniscient deity….” And the guy rambles about nothing that Harry understands at all and Nina feels her heart breaks at Harry’s distressed face. 

 

**

 

“I can’t believe you bought a million papers no one reads anyway just to makes sure no one would read them. You know you’re insane right?” Niall says as he throws out a bunch of papers into the bin. 

“Niall, don’t diagnose your father.” 

“Okay.” Niall nods. “I’ll visit Liam tomorrow.” He tells his father. 

“What are you reading him these days?” Bobby asks. 

“Jack London’s _Justice League_.” 

“Do you want me to give you a lift?” Bobby offers and Niall shakes his head. 

Niall stares at his father before he speaks the next words. “You don’t think it’s crazy, to spend all your free time reading to someone you’re not even sure can hear you?” 

“If you tell me you go because you feel obligated I’d say yes. That’s fairly unhealthy. But you go because you miss him. That’s all that matters.” Bobby says before he continues. “That said it would be nice to see you go out once in a while.” 

“I thought that was Mom’s thing.” Niall points out. 

“Your mother harps on you to go out more often because she doesn’t want to see you miserable. I’m saying it because I don’t ever want to see you feel guilty for having a life. Liam was never as happy as when you were laughing.” Bobby explains. 

 

**

 

“Lovely stuff isn’t it?” Nina asks as they both stares at the beautiful view of mountain in front of them. Nina’s car had broken down and they are fairly stranded at the side of the road, waiting for the tow truck.

“It’s not the way I remember at synagogue.” Harry replies. 

“I guess not. You didn’t like any of it?” Nina asks as she glances at the boy beside her. 

“I liked it when you yelled at him.” Harry gives her a smile as he replies. 

Nina laughs and shakes her head. “Sorry, I wish I could tell you more but God doesn’t like to give easy answers.” 

“I’m okay.” Harry replies shortly. 

Nina sighs and wraps her arms around Harry. “I worry about my husband too. He died two years ago. For a long time I used to wonder if he was okay. If he’s anywhere even. If he can see me. I used to make myself nuts over it. But you know what? You know what I didn’t see until you came along? Making myself nuts was my way of knowing he’s still around. Because you, looking all over for God, that’s your mom. That’s how you know she’s okay. She’s in you, looking.” Nina says and she feels Harry starts to sob in her arms. Nina wraps her arms tighter around Harry and let him cried on her shoulder. 

 

**

 

“Why aren’t we there yet?” Yasir asks, panting. 

“Because we’re out of shape. How far back was Mountain Lion Pass?” Zayn replies. 

“Four blisters ago.” 

“The new boots?” 

“Yeah, I got it now.” Yasir says before he stops. “Wait a minute. Do you smell that?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I don’t smell anything.” 

“The sign!” Yasir points out. “We made it! You got us here!” Yasir grins at his son. 

“The preserve. So it’s up here. Come on, come on!” Zayn stops abruptly as he stares at the dead trees in front of his. There is no preserve anymore and all that left are the dead trees. 

“She was supposed to be safe here.” Zayn says shakily. “She can’t survive in this. Damn it!” Zayn yells to no one and throws his bagpack. 

“It’s okay, Zayn.” Yasir says, tries to comfort his distressed son. 

“No, it’s not. Where’s she gonna go now, huh? What’s she gonna do now?” Zayn says, upset with the situation.

“We’ll hike a mile up to find another patch in the reserve.” Yasir replies calmly. 

“No! That isn’t her home!” Zayn snaps. “All I want to do was bring her home.” 

“You did, Zayn.” Yasir says as he finally realizes why the thing is matter to Zayn. “It’s just gone.”

Zayn tries to hold back his tears. “This is where she belongs.” 

Yasir walks over and stands in front of his son. “She’ll do what she did. She’ll find a new home.” 

“Our home is in London. Our home was with mom.” Zayn says as he blinks back his tears and stares at his father. 

“It was. But she’s gone now and we can’t go back. We left London because there was nothing left for us anymore. Zayn, what you’re hanging on to..is this..” Yasir says as he points out at the dead woods. 

A tear rolls down from Zayn’s misty eyes as he shakily speaks up again. “I just want to go back.” 

Yasir wraps his arms around his son and pulls him into his hug. “I know. I know.” And for the first time after his mom died, Zayn cries on his father’s shoulder. 

 

**

 

“Dad?” Zayn asks as soon as they plop down on the couch after their adventures in the wood. 

“Yeah?”

“Just how out of brain businesses are you?” 

Yasir shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. Why?” 

“You asked me how Niall is doing. He’s still pretty wrapped up in his boyfriend, the one in the coma. He asked me to ask you to take a look at him.” Zayn says. 

“When did he ask you that?” 

Zayn shrugs. “A while ago.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “You’re probably gonna have to tell him that.” 

“Probably.” Zayn mumbles. 

 

**

 

“The phone’s been ringing non-stop since the paper came out.” Niall tells his father as soon as he walks into the living room. “There were bunches more of messages on the machine.”

“Niall? Are these all of them?” Bobby asks. 

“Sorry Dad, he didn’t call.” Niall replies, referring to his dad’s infamous rivalry in the town, Dr. Malik.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Bobby says as he clears his throat. “Hey, is that my Burberry scarf?” 

Niall looks at the scarf on his neck. “Oh, can I borrow it tonight? I’m going out with Sean and Jack. I didn’t want to go but then I remembered this was Liam’s favorite party of the year. I can’t miss that, right?” 

“Sure you wouldn’t rather stay home, join a convent?” 

Niall rolls his eyes fondly at his father’s teasing. “I gotta get in the shower.” 

 

**

 

Bobby watches his son retreats to the bathroom and smiles. It had been a while since Niall is having fun for himself. He is on his way to switch on the television when he hears the knock on the front door. 

“You.” Bobby says as soon as he sees the dark-haired boy in front of him.” Why do you look as though you’re about to vomit?” 

“Because I might.” Honestly, that is what Zayn is feeling at the moment. 

“Niall!” Bobby calls his son. 

“Coming!” Zayn hears Niall replies. 

“Well, well, the warrior’s back from his vision quest. Did you find your spirit animal? Let me guess. You’re a marmot.” Niall teases as soon as he stands in front of Zayn and trying to dry his hair with the towel at the same time.

“I have to talk to you for a minute.” Zayn says and Niall raises his eyebrows at Zayn’s tone. “You’re gonna be really pissed at me but hear me out before you hate me.” 

Niall smiles slightly and nods.“Go on.” 

“We made SpaghettiOs in the woods. Sandwhiches too but I put the SpaghettiO can and put it right at the fire which I started by the way. I stacked up the kindling like a…Like a triangle..” Zayn explains animatedly. 

“Zayn.” Niall cuts off Zayn’s rambling and chuckles at Zayn’s action. 

“Yeah?” 

Niall smiles. “Start again.” 

“Right.” Zayn says. “Hi.” 

“Hi.” 

Zayn clears his throat before he starts to speak again. “The thing is I lied to you. I fixed it but I lied. You asked me to ask my dad to help Liam. I said I did but I didn’t.” 

Niall’s smile turns into a frown immediately. 

“My problem is and this is really just one of a whole busload. I lost my home recently. I can’t get it back. It took climbing a mountain for me to realize this. But you were right. I came to Mullingar and I’m just coasting. I haven’t made anything for myself here. Except you. You’re what make this home to me. I was afraid if my dad helps Liam, I’d lose all that. But I get it. I mean it takes me a while but I catch up. Liam is your home. So I asked my dad to help him. He’s gonna look at him tomorrow. Not that that makes up for anything I’ve done but..it’s happening.” Zayn stops speaking and continues. “I’m sorry.” 

Niall blinks his eyes at Zayn and doesn’t know how to reply to that. It’s just too much to process and he doesn’t know if he can even look at Zayn at the moment without being mad. So he takes a safer route and replies with a simple “Okay” and he closes the door. 

Zayn stares at the door in front of him and flinches a little when he hears the door’s lock. “Okay.” Zayn replies to the thin air instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished with my another multi-chapter story entitled "You're always gonna be my baby." Feels free to check it out :)


	6. Breakdown

“I thought they only paid you to play piano.” Niall says as he looks at Zayn.

“You doubt my school spirit?” Zayn replies, glancing at Niall. They are both sitting on the floor, painting some canvas for the school play. How does he end up doing that with Niall? Well, let’s just say it’s a mystery. 

“Whatever. It’s cool of you to help.” Niall smiles and Zayn smiles back. Well, maybe the reason is not so mysterious as Zayn initially thought. 

“See that red rope over there?” Niall points out. “That’s where it all starts. Every year it’s a mad dash to see who gets the best seats. You’d think it was a Paul McCartney concert. Never seen middle-aged people run so fast.” Niall explains the culture of the school play to Zayn. 

“A high school event depicting the changing of the leaves. High point of Mullingar’s social season. Why am I not surprised?” Zayn asks playfully as he looks at Niall. 

Niall laughs at Zayn’s comment. “The flower mart actually sold out last year. All the performers get bouquets. Roses mostly.” Niall speaks as he stands up to hang the canvas near the stage. 

“That’s good to know.” Zayn pipes in as he stands up as well to help Niall. 

“Except me. I mean. Well, I’ve never had a solo before but..” Niall trails off. “..Liam used to bring me flowers anyway.” Niall says quietly. “Not my parents or anybody, just Liam.” Niall smiles sadly. 

Zayn stares at Niall’s sad smile and doesn’t know how to response to that. So he uses his talent to divert the attention at the moment. “You just checked your watch five minutes ago.” Zayn points out. 

“Liam’s parents’ appointment is almost over.” Niall explains. 

“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. My dad’s appointment usually last just long enough for whoever he’s talking at to sign on the dotted line.” Zayn assures and smiles at Niall. “I swear I can’t remember the last time someone said no when the-great-Dr. Malik offered his help.” Zayn continues as he stares at Niall’s eyes. “Liam’s surgery is a done deal.” He says convincingly. 

Niall nods gratefully. “I watched this show about comas the other night on the science channel. It showed people who came out after a long time like six months or so. Most of them barely even looked human. I remember this one guy’s face was frozen in this silent scream like that painting. And most of their hands were all curled up.” Niall says, his voice cracking fearfully as he stares with his wide eyes at Zayn. 

Zayn swallows sadly at Niall’s begging eyes for Zayn to tell him that everything is going to be alright. “I don’t mean this in a bad way, Niall but are you sure you want him back?” Zayn says and continues quickly. “I mean especially if..I mean that it might be better for him if…” 

“I want him back. No matter what.” Niall cuts off Zayn’s words and says in a sheer determination. 

 

**

 

“As Dr. Latham and his team have told you, the causes of short-term coma are generally discrete and identifiable while the cause of prolonged coma can often be idiopathic. Of unknown origin. In Liam’s case, the neuro team has monitored his intracranial pressure and provided well above the standard of care. You can be confident that up to this point, you’ve done everything possible for him.” Dr. Malik explains to Liam’s parents who are sitting in front of his desk at the clinic. 

“Up to this point?” Liam’s dad asks. 

“Having studied Liam’s history and films, I’ve come up with a theory.” Dr. Malik continues. 

“You think you know something they don’t?” Liam’s dad asks again. 

“There is what we believe to be a small fragment of bone lodged in Liam’s brain. More specifically in the brain stem where it would be extremely difficult to remove. Dr. Latham doesn’t believe that the relationship between this fragment and your son’s prolonged comatose state is causal.” 

“But, you do?” Liam’s mum pipes in. 

“I do. And I believe I can surgically resect it without damaging the stem.” Dr. Malik replies. 

“You’’ve done this before? 

Dr. Malik pauses. “Actually no. The brain stem handles the most elemental tasks that the brain performs. Were we to undertake this surgery successfully it would be medically reportable.” 

“Meaning?” 

“Well, it would be an experiment of sorts. By that I mean, experimentation occurs all the time in medicine. It’s how innovation takes place. It’s how lives are saved.” Dr. Malik explains to the distraught parents in front of him. “I want you to know I don’t undertake this lightly. I’ve performed over 200 procedures a year for the last 15 years and if I’m not mistaken I have one of the highest success rates in the UK.” 

“But what if you do damage the brain stem?” Liam’s mum asks. 

“It would threaten Liam’s ability to walk, eat, breathe.” 

“And what if we don’t do it?” 

Dr. Malik sighs. “It’s impossible to say. Liam may emerge from coma on his own.” 

Liam’s dad pauses before he speaks up again. “But you don’t think he will.” 

No replies from Dr. Malik and the silence answers it all. Liam’s dad grabs his wife’s hands and looks at Dr. Malik. “Look, you’re the last stop for us, Dr. Malik. We’ve run out of answers of our own. What do you think we should do?” 

“I can’t tell you what to do. That’s a choice you’ll have to make together.” 

“What if it were your son?” 

 

**

 

“Bet you don’t know what this song’s about.” Nick says as he and Harry bobs their head together to the tune that is playing on the stereo. 

“I do too.” Harry argues. 

“What?” Nick challenges. 

“It’s about this girl.” Harry replies. 

“It’s about sex. Do you even know what that is?” Nick says, teasing Harry and Harry shoves Nick off the bed playfully. “Duh!” Harry replies. 

Nick laughs before he stands up and walks over to his bedroom’s door. He closes the door and returns back to his bed and Harry looks at him questioningly. 

Nick pulls Harry’s hand to stand and they walks toward the stereo, increasing the volume and starts to dance like a mad men. They dances for a while before Nick pulls out a small box under his bed and shows it to Harry. 

“What’s that?” Harry asks. 

“Makeup. It’s my mom’s.” Nick replies. 

“You stole it?” Harry asks with a wide eyes and Nick doesn’t reply. Instead he takes a brush and starts to put the blusher around his cheeks. Harry raises his eyebrows at Nick’s action and starts to follow his friend’s action when he puts on the lipstick. 

After they finish with their makeup, they dances again before Nick’s mother suddenly barges into the bedroom and turns off the radio before she looks at the state that her son is in with his friend. “Harry, I think it’s time for you to go home now.” 

 

**

 

“All right. I undertand. No no, there’s really no need to explain. No no, of course not. All right, we’ll talk again soon.” 

“Who was that?” Zayn asks as soon as his father finishes with the phone conversation. 

“Just work stuff.” Yasir replies to his son. 

“Was it about Liam Payne?” 

“As a matter of fact, it was.” 

Zayn nods as he pokes his head to look at the content of the fridge in front of him. “What did they say?” Zayn asks his father. 

“Who?” Yasir asks and realizes that Zayn is asking about the decision from Liam’s parent. “Oh, they decided not to pursue the surgical option.” 

“What?” Zayn exclaims, shock with the decision. 

“You can hardly blame them, it’s a tough decision to make.” 

“Wait. So that’s just it?” Zayn asks incredulously. 

‘Well, nothing’s just it.” Yasir shrugs. “Liam’s status is constantly evolving. Who knows? Tomorrow, next week, next month could be a new ball game.” 

“So you’re just gonna let it lie?” 

“No point in forcing the issue.” Yasir replies to his son.

Zayn waves his arms in frustration. “That’s the new thing right? This whole laissez-faire country-doctor bit?” 

“Doctor’s don’t have all the answers, Zayn.” 

“They don’t?” Zayn asks as he raises his eyebrows. 

“No.” Yasir replies shortly. “Sometimes parents have the answers too.” Yasir says and points out at behind Zayn. “When you’re done letting the cold air out of the fridge, set the table, will you?” 

 

**

 

“Hey Zayn.” Niall greets Zayn as they bumps into each other at the hallway. 

Zayn stands nervously as he looks at Niall. “Hurm..my dad told me last night.” Zayn starts, referring to Liam’s parents’ decision. “I’m sorry.” 

Niall let out a small smile. “I shouldn’t have got my hopes up.” Niall says casually but inside, his heart is hurting by the thought of Liam might now going to wake up again, forever. 

Zayn refuses to let the blonde-haired boy in front of him to dwell in his sadness. “You know once in a while back in London, people would say no to my dad at first.”

“Then what happened?” 

“Well, he’d persuade them if he was right. You know except..” 

“What?” 

“Well, in this town people are different. You gotta know them 25 years before they let you change their tire.” Zayn explains. 

Niall seems to understand where Zayn is heading with his rambling. “So you don’t think you dad could convince the Paynes?” 

“I don’t know but..maybe you could.” Zayn suggests. 

“Me?” Niall asks, with a surprised tone in his voice. “Really? You think?” 

Zayn nods convincingly. “Yeah.” 

And Niall can feel his spirit is lift up again at Zayn’s encouragement. “All right. Thanks, Zayn.” 

 

**

 

“Want to play FIFA with me?” Harry asks as he reaches Nick’s table in the class. Harry is replied with a glare from Nick and silence. He looks at Nick confusingly. He is about to speak up again when someone else comes to Nick’s table. 

“Hey Nick, we’re playing dodge ball. You in?” 

“Yeah.” Nick replies and starts to turn away, completely ignoring Harry. 

“Do you want to play with me after school then?” Harry calls out to Nick and Nick shakes his head. “No.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because last time I got in trouble, moron.” Nick replies rudely and Harry flinches at the harsh tone. Nick sighs as he sees the hurt flashes across his friend’s face. “I can’t. My mom said.” Nick explains before he turns away, leaving Harry alone, thinking of what had he done that made Nick’s mom hates him? 

 

**

 

“Lou, where are you going?” Niall asks when Louis walks pasts him to the front door. 

“Got a date.” Louis replies shortly. 

“Tonight? No no no. You have to be here for dinner.” Niall says frantically. 

“I don’t think so.” Louis shakes his head. 

“Lou, you can’t go. You have to be here.” Niall begs his older brother. 

Louis raises his eyebrows at Niall’s weird action. “Why?” 

“Mum invited the Paynes over.” Niall explains. 

“So?” Louis shrugs. 

Niall raises his arms in frustration and starts to ramble. “So? I’ve got all the research prepared about the surgery. All you have to do is…” 

“I thought they already said no.” Louis cuts off his little brother’s rant. 

“They could change their minds.” Niall says hopefully. 

“Fat chance.” Louis snorts. “Besides, I don’t think we should be getting involved.” 

“We’re already involved, Lou. Liam is your bestfriend. You have to help me. You have to tell them that..” 

“It’s a lost cause, Ni.” Louis says and doesn’t even wait for Niall to reply before he starts to walk to the front door again. 

Niall, refusing to let his brother out of his grasp, starts to follow him. “What is wrong with you? Don’t you want him back?” Niall raises his voice slightly but Louis ignores him and slams the door on his way out as his replies to Niall. 

 

**

 

Yasir shakes his head as Zayn puts half bottle of the cheese absent-mindedly into his food during the dinner. “That bad, huh?” Yasir asks his son. 

“Depends. What is it?” Zayn replies sarcastically, refusing to explain more to his father. 

Yasir nods. “Point taken.” He turns to look at his youngest son. “What do you think, Hazza?” 

“It’s fine.” Harry replies, without even glancing at Yasir. 

“Is something wrong?” Yasir asks.

“Nick ignores me today. He doesn’t want to play with me.” Harry replies quietly. 

“He probably wanted to play with other friends.” 

“Nick doesn’t have other friends.” Harry says and looks at Zayn knowingly. “He said he can’t play with me anymore.” Harry continues. 

“Why not?” Yasir raises his eyebrows. 

“His mom said.” 

“Well why would she say a thing like that?” 

“She doesn’t like me.” 

Yasir chuckles fondly. “That’s impossible.” 

Zayn looks at his brother’s sad face and dejected figure and he doesn’t like how Harry seems so upset over this Nick’s action. He then looks at his father. “You have to have a parent talk.” 

“What with Nick? I’m not his parent.” 

“No. _You_ have to talk to his parents.” Zayn explains to his clueless father. 

“You know that’s actually a very good idea, Zayn.” Yasir says and looks at Harry again. “Tell you what, we’ll go over there right after dinner.” Harry nods a little to enthusiastically and smiles again. 

 

**

 

“It must be hard to have a nice time knowing that Liam is..” Niall pipes into her mum’s conversation with the Paynes at the dinner table. 

“Niall.” His mum scolds and Niall shrugs. 

“I think about him all the time.” Mrs. Payne says as she looks at Niall. 

“Then why won’t Dr. Malik be performing surgery?” Niall challenges casually but everyone at the table could sense his agitation. 

“Niall!” Bobby scolds his youngest son. “You’ll have to forgive him. He’s been under some strain lately.” Bobby apologizes to the Paynes. 

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Niall snaps, raising his voice slightly. 

“Niall James! That’s enough.” Maura scolds her son with a stern voice. 

“It’s alright, Maura.” Mrs. Payne speaks up. She then looks at Niall and starts to speak again. “I feel the same way you do, honey. There’s nothing we can do.” 

“Yes, there is.” Niall says stubbornly. “Dr. Malik is one of the premier brain surgeons in the state. Patients fly halfway around the world for a consultation and we have him, right here. And he wants to help us.”

“No. No, he doesn’t.” Mrs. Payne says and Niall is confuses. “We agreed that Liam should have the surgery and it was Dr. Malik who changed his mind.” Mrs. Payne continues and Niall is taken aback by the new findings. 

 

**

 

“Good evening.” Yasir greets Nick’s mom as soon as she opens the front door. “I’m Yasir Malik and I think you know my son, Harry.” 

Nick’s mum nods and Yasir takes it as his cue to continue. “I hope you don’t mind us dropping by like this. We rang the bell a couple times and figured that..” 

“You know, I really have some..” Nick’s mum suddenly speaks and cut off Yasir’s words. 

“Wait. I’ll just get right to the point. It’s come to my attention that there’s been some kind of a misunderstanding. My son is under the impression that you don’t want him playing with your son Nick.” Yasir says. 

Nick’s mum sighs. “Do you really want to discuss this in front of your son?” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows in confusion because Nick’s mum sounds so serious. He thought that this is only a little misunderstanding between two teens but Nick’s mum seems to think differently. 

“Harry, stay here for a moment okay. I’m going to talk with Nick’s mum inside for a minute.” Yasir says and he follows the petite woman in front of him into the living room. 

“Look. I like your son. He’s charming but my husband doesn’t want him to come here again. He doesn’t want Harry to influence Nick to be like him.” 

“To be like him?” Yasir asks in a confused tone. 

Nick’s mum nods. “I caught them playing dress-up the other day and my husband went ballistic when he knew. I know you have a son who is gay since everyone knows about everyone in this town but not all of us can accept it, you know. And it seems like Harry is following into his brother’s sexuality and we don’t want the same thing for Nick.” She explains. 

Yasir sighs but he nods understandingly. He knows not everyone is going to accept his son’s sexuality with an open minded but to think that Harry is being judged before he can even acknowledge his own sexuality is making Yasir sad. He apologizes to Nick’s mum again and she leads him out of the house. 

Yasir shrugs at his son and starts to walk towards the car before Harry’s voice stops him. “Is something wrong with me?” 

“Nothing is wrong with you, Hazza. There is _nothing_ wrong with you.” 

 

**

 

Zayn erases some of the notes on his music sheet before he starts to play his piano again before a voice suddenly appears behind him. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Niall asks and Zayn turns around. 

“What?” Zayn asks confusingly. 

“Your father turned them down?” 

“What?” Zayn says shockingly. 

“The Paynes asked him if he could do the surgery..” 

“Wait. Wait. Why wouldn’t my dad want to operate?” Zayn asks as he looks at Niall confusingly. 

Niall shrugs. “You tell me.” Niall says, a bit mad at Zayn for not telling him the truth. 

“No. It’s impossible. I mean, my dad’s a jerk but he never turned anyone down before. My dad’s never met odds he didn’t like.” Zayn explains. 

“He didn’t like Liam’s.” Niall says. 

“You sure you got this right?” Zayn asks the boy who is standing in front of him. 

“The Paynes told me.” Niall rolls his eyes. 

“Because the guy I know would give his left nut to rescue a kid from a coma and be a hero.” 

“Are you sure he didn’t tell you anything about this?” Niall asks accusingly. 

“Why would I lie to you Niall? You’re the only person I care about in this whole stupid town. Look, I didn’t know.” Zayn says and when Niall still looks at him in disbelief, Zayn continues. “I swear.” 

 

**

 

“I’m ready. Let’s go.” Harry announces as he bounces down the step follows by his father. Zayn rolls his eyes at his little brother’s announcement as he is still struggling with the tie in front of the mirror. 

“Need some help with that?” His had asks and Zayn shakes his head. “I got it.” 

“Is Niall nervous about the performance?” Yasir asks his son. 

“He’s too pissed off.” Zayn replies as he finally finishes with his tie. 

“These are difficult decisions.” Yasir says. “What the Paynes decided is their prerogative and we have to respect that.” 

Zayn snaps his head to glare at his father. “What the Paynes decided? What you decided for them. This is so typical. The one time it matters..” 

“It always matters, Zayn. It just so happens that this time it matters to you. But that doesn’t mean..” 

“Niall matters to me.” Zayn cut his father’s off. “And as pathetic as it may be, you were his only shot. He’s not used to being let down by you. Not yet.” Zayn says as he starts to walk away. 

“Listen to me, Zayn. These people asked me what I would do if it were my son. And I told them that I thought it was risky. It’s tempting to leap in and try and surgically fix things.”

“That’s a load. You know it. If it were your son, if it were me, you’d let me sit there in a coma when there was a zillionth-of-a-percent chance you could ride in white horse and save me?” Zayn says and pauses. “I don’t think so. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were scared.” 

 

**

 

“Niall?” Niall turns his head to the sound of his someone calling his name. He smiles as he looks at Mrs. Payne’s face with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. 

“Liam would never forgive me if I didn’t make sure you got these.” Mrs. Payne says as she hands the flower to Niall. “I know he would give anything to be here.” She continues and Niall can feels his smile disappears. 

He stares at the flowers and he feels all the feelings come rushing towards his heart. The feeling of missing Liam, sadness by the fact that it is not Liam who hands the flower himself and by the fact that Liam is still lying on the hospital bed and Niall won’t probably have a chance to be with Liam again. 

Niall is still staring at the flower again when suddenly Zayn’s voice calls his name. “Niall.” 

“Niall.” Zayn calls again as he looks at the smaller boy in front of him. “What’s wrong?” Zayn asks worriedly as Niall’s eyes seems glassy and the blonde-haired boy seems so _lost_. 

“He’s not coming back.” Niall mumbles quietly and Zayn has to strain his ears to hear Niall’s voice. 

“You don’t know that.” Zayn assures. “He could come out of it. He probably will.” Zayn continues. 

Niall couldn’t contain his tears anymore. He lets the tears out of his eyes as he shakes his head. “He’s gone.” 

Zayn feels his heart breaks as he looks at the tears that are now running on Niall’s face. He wipes some of the tears away. “Niall.” He calls out again but Niall seems like he doesn’t hear anything at the moment. “Niall.” Zayn calls urgently because at the moment, he knows Niall is lost in his own miserable mind. Niall doesn’t seems like he’s going to snap out of it any sooner and Zayn turns away to find Niall’s dad quickly. 

 

** 

 

Zayn jogs his way to the audience seats and looks around until he finds the person he is looking for. “Dr. Horan! Dr. Horan, you have to come back here now.” Zayn calls frantically. “It’s Niall. Come on.” Bobby and Maura stand up quickly and follows Zayn’s lead. 

“Niall?” Maura calls his son’s name as soon as they steps into the backstage room and finds Niall sits on the floor quietly. She looks at his husband for help when Niall doesn’t seem to acknowledge their presence there. Bobby crouches down to see his son’s face. “Niall? Hey, can you hear me?” Bobby asks as he tilts his son’s chin to look at him. Niall remains unresponsive and Bobby feels his heart breaks at the emptiness that lingers in his son’s blue eyes. He then scoops his son up and announces that they’re going home. “It’s okay, Niall. It’s okay. We’re going home.” Bobby keeps telling his son who remains limp in his arms. 

 

**

 

Zayn raises his eyebrown as soon as he sees Niall smiles at the hallway. “Hi, Zayn.” Niall greets excitedly. 

“You look better.” Zayn points out. 

“I feel better.” Niall says, with a big smile plastered on his face. 

“Really?” Zayn asks. He knows Niall is smiling but the eyes, his blue eyes are not sparkling like it used to. 

“I’m totally fine.” Niall says. 

“Because last night was pretty..”

“Freaky, right? Funny because the exact same thing happened to me once before when I went on this family trip and I didn’t have time to study for a test. I just spazzed out. I just lost it. I guess it’s good that I got it out of my system because I feel completely totally together, you know?” Niall rambles on. “I’m just embarrassed that everyone saw me like that. It’s so not typical of me.” Niall continues. “What?” He asks Zayn as the dark-haired boy is staring at him with a look. A look that Niall doesn’t like to see. 

“You’re talking faster than my brain processes language.” Zayn says. He knows Niall is trying to put up a happy face in front of everyone. 

“Sorry. I’m a little bit..anyway, so how are you?” Niall asks, diverting the attention to Zayn. 

“How are _you_?” Zayn asks instead of replying to Niall’s question. 

“I’m great.” Niall says, a little too enthusiastic for a liking. 

“No. How are you, really?” Zayn insists on asking. 

“I’m completely fine.” Niall says. “Really. I am.” 

“You know if you’re not fine you can tell me, right?” Zayn says. 

“I just told you I am.” 

“All right, but if you want to talk about anything I’ll be here..” Zayn offers but Niall brushes him off. 

“Oh my God! I completely forgot I’m supposed to meet Sean and Jack. I gotta go. Sorry.” Niall says and leaves before Zayn can even blink his eyes. 

 

**

 

“What are you playing?” Niall asks as soon as he hears the sound of piano inside the music room. Zayn seems startle to see him but the dark-haired boy smiles nonetheless. 

“Nothing.” Zayn says as he takes the music sheets off the piano. 

Niall raises his eyebrows. “Did you compose this _’nothing’_?” 

Zayn ignores Niall’s question. “What are you doing here anyway? There’s no rehearsal.” 

Niall shrugs. “I had a free period so I thought I’d..” Niall trails off as he looks at Zayn right into his eyes. “That’s not true.”Niall says as he sits beside Zayn in front of the piano. 

“I came because I wanted to tell you something.” Niall says and glances at Zayn. Niall takes a deep breath before he starts to speak up again. “Yesterday when I told you that I was okay, I wasn’t. I’m not. I’m not okay.” Niall confesses. “I remember in fourth grade, on the way back home from my class’s trip, I got into the wrong bus. Liam thought they had left me behind. He walked back three miles and stayed at the brewery till nightfall, trying to find me. He couldn’t leave me behind.” Niall says. 

“What were you playing before?” Niall asks suddenly, changing the topic. 

Zayn, sensing that Niall doesn’t want to talk any further about his past with Liam, replies. “You said nobody brought you flowers but Liam. It would have been your first solo so I wanted to make sure someone remembered.” Zayn says and looks at Niall. “I wrote you a song.” 

Niall smiles slightly at Zayn’s sweet gesture. He never had anybody being so nice to him like this besides Liam. “Will you play it for me?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No. It’s not finished.” 

“Please.” Niall request softly and Zayn complies. Anything to make Niall smiles again.


	7. The truth is out there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update. I was busy with my work lately.

__

_“Woohoo!!” Liam yelled excitedly. “And with that seamless dive, the young lad from Mullingar, Ireland catapults himself into a medal position.” Liam announced as soon as he got out of the water._

_“Oh, your toes were curled bro. 5.5.” Louis replied._

_“Yeah. And let’s not even talk about your entry splash. 4.2.” Niall joined in._

_“The Russian judge gave me a 6.” Liam said._

_“Well, everyone knows Unga’s got a thing for you.” Niall said as he grinned playfully at Liam._

_“Yeah, well. Too bad Unga’s feelings are unrequired.” Liam replied as he leaned down to peck a kiss on Niall’s lips. He then shook his hair after they pulled away and splashed some water droplets on Niall. Niall yelped and punched Liam’s shoulder lightly. “You’re next, Grover.” Liam said._

_“In a little bit.” Niall replied._

_“You are so full of it.” Liam snorted._

_“When are you gonna realize that my baby brother doesn’t share our sense of adventure?” Louis yelled from the branch of the tree at edge of the lake before he dived into the water._

_Niall watched as his brother yelled excitedly before he turned to look at Liam. “If I ask you a question, do you promise not to laugh?”_

_Liam shook his head. “No.”_

_“What were you just thinking? Just then you had this look.” Niall asked._

_“I was just thinking about the fireworks I saw in Mr. Knoll’s driveway earlier.” Liam replied. “The ones they’re shooting off tonight. They must’ve cost a fortune.” He continued as he looked at Niall._

_Niall snorted and looked away. That was not the answer that he was hoping for actually. Liam seemed to know that too because he suddenly spoke up again. “Look, I can’t think about you every second of every day, Grover. I mean, sometimes I got to take time to think about normal guy things like trucks, electronics, Katie Holmes.”_

_Niall smiled and rolled his eyes. “I get the idea.”_

_Liam chuckles fondly at Niall’s action. “All right. Maybe it wasn’t just the fireworks.”_

_Niall turned his head to look at Liam again. “Go on.”_

_“I was just thinking about us watching them off last year.”_

_“And?” Niall eagerly asked._

_“I just hoped that they would keep going.” Liam said. “With your hand just touching mine.” He continued as he took Niall’s hand. “Just like that. And then it was over.”_

_They stared at each other before both of them leaned closer and both lips touched. The kiss lasted for a second before suddenly Liam pulled away and laughed cheekily._

_“What are you doing?” Niall asked confusingly. Liam just laughed and Niall felt his bare neck and that was when he realized what Liam had done. “Liam, that’s my confirmation cross!”_

_Liam chuckled as he stood at the tree branch at the edge of the lake. “Come and get it.” He taunted._

_“If you drop it, I will never forgive you. Give it back!” Niall said as he walked towards Liam._

_“Come and get it.” Liam taunted again._

_“Liam!”_

_“Come on.” Liam laughed at Niall’s pouty face._

_“Liam!” Niall called again. He tiptoed nervously on the tree branch as Liam walked further back from him._

_“Ready?” Liam asked when Niall was finally standing beside him and he was holding Niall’s hand._

_Niall laughed nervously and nodded. “One..two..three.” They counted together before both of them dived into the water._

_They both laughed as soon as they resurfaced from the water and Niall felt his heart burst with happiness as he looked at Liam. “I love you.” Niall blurted out.  
_  
**

“The procedure will take a minimum of 8 hours assuming there are no complications.” Dr. Malik tells Mr. and Mrs. Payne in front of him. “ And I know you’re both aware of what those complications might be.” 

“We are.” Mr. Payne says and nods. 

“I’ve got my old assisting surgeon flying in from London. He’s the best. We’ll start prepping Liam at 9 a.m.” 

“What’s the chance my son won’t survive the surgery?” Mrs. Payne asks. 

“It’s a high-risk procedure. There are no odds that I can give you and even if there were, I’m not sure they’d provide you with much comfort.” 

Mrs. Payne nods before she speaks again. “I need something. Liam made a mistake when he drove that day and he’s paid a horrible price. I just don’t want to be responsible for making him worse.” 

Dr. Malik nods understanding. “Mrs. Payne, Liam has been in coma for over four months. That’s well beyond the time frame where a meaningful recovery is likely. The only assurance I can give you is this. In my career, I’ve performed over 2600 surgeries and I have never had one where I cared more about the outcome.” 

**

“You let a guy who’s never been out of London city drive a car in the wilderness?” Zayn asks his father. 

Yasir shrugs. “It’s uncle Brian, not Woody Allen.” He replies to his son’s question. 

That’s when the doorbell rings and Harry skips out excitedly. “He’s here!” Harry is practically bouncing his way to the front door. “Uncle Brian!” He greets excitedly as he hugs the man in front of him. The man laughs as wraps his arms around Harry and makes their way to the kitchen. 

“Gentlemen, worship me, for I have brought unto you London City.” Brian says as he points out to the bags in his hands. 

Harry grins excitedly and Zayn smiles at his little brother’s upbeat attitude. “Let’s see. I’ve got two bags of H&H bagels, some Ray’s Pizza, all eight slices individually wrapped for travel. No need to thank me.” Brian announces as he pulls out several items from the bag. 

“I thought I was upset because I just missed London. Now I can finally know a true despair.” Zayn says playfully and Brian laughs. 

“Despair’s up your alley. You’re a musician.” 

“Not really these days.” Zayn replies. 

“When you hear what I brought for you, you’re gonna want to rededicate yourself.” Brian says as he pulls out another thing from his bag. “Bill Evans. Vinyl. That’ll change your life.” 

Zayn whistles. “Sweet.” He looks up at Brian and smiles. “Thanks.” Zayn says before he retreats to his room to enjoy his new present. 

When Zayn leaves, Brian turns to look at Yasir. “I can’t believe it. What, it’s been a year since you and I stood over an open skull?” 

“Long enough to have blotted out some of your colorful expressions.” 

“And tomorrow, once again we’ll hear the sweet sound of that drill digging away.” 

**

“The television fanatics in the house will be happy to know that I have relented and purchased the satellite dish which you have been clamoring for. I’m picking it up from Herb’s Discounts tomorrow morning.” Bobby says excitedly but he is only replied with the silence at the dinner table. “Please, hold ypur applause.” He continues. 

“That’s great, dad.” Niall replies unenthusiastically. 

Bobby knows everyone is agitated over Liam’s operation so he thought that maybe he can ease up some tension in the room so he continues again. “Over 300 channels. We can watch some Korean movies if we wish.” 

“Why are you picking up the dish? Why isn’t one of Herbert’s boys coming to install it?” Maura asks. 

“I possess two university degrees and a Mensa membership, Maura. We do not need to pay some tool-belted ignomarous 50 of my hard-earned pounds to hook a piece of plastic up to the side of the house.” Bobby says. “Pass the carrots.” He then says to Niall. Niall passes the carrot to his dad before he turns to his mum. 

“Mum, I want to spend the day at the hospital tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.” Niall asks for permission. 

Maura nods. “I assumed you would. Your dad’s on call so you should ride with your brother.” She says. 

“I’m not going.” Louis suddenly says. 

Niall looks at his brother surprisingly. “What do you mean you’re not going?” 

“Er, I’m not going.” Louis deadpans. 

Niall scoffs and puts down his fork and spoon on the plate. “Figures.” Niall says as he rolls his eyes. 

“Niall.” Bobby warns his youngest son. 

“No, I’m sorry. But I’m sick of it. Liam’s your best friend. You never go see him and now you’re not even gonna be there for the surgery.” Niall says, raising his voice slightly at his brother’s behavior. 

“You’re doing fine with this whole martyr thing. You can handle it without me.” Louis replies before he stands up to leave the dinner table. “I’ll be in my room.” 

“Louis, get back here.” Bobby calls his eldest son. 

“Bobby, just leave him.” Maura pipes in. “He’s just scared about tomorrow.” 

**  
 __  
“Man, there’s a reason men don’t wear ruffles.” Louis deadpanned as he looked at himself in front of the mirror.

_“It’s not that bad. If this were 1775, you’d be a total chick magnet.” Liam said, lying on Louis’s bed playing with Frisbees on his hand._

_“You’re not helping.”_

_“I’m not?” Liam said. “Are you sure about that?” He continued as he pulled out a small bottle of liquor beside him and threw it to Louis._

_“Where did you swipe this?” Louis asked his best friend._

_“Dad’s liquor cabinet. Crown Royal he got from a client last year. And trust me, if he knew that you were gonna stand in front of the entire town wearing that, he’d want you to have it.” Liam said._

_Louis shrugged and started to sip it greedily. Liam shook his head. “Hey,slow down man. It’s supposed to last all day.”_

_“Yeah, well I don’t know if I’ll last all day.” Louis whined._

_“Careful. Don’t want to ruin that pretty outfit, do you?” Liam teased._

_Louis rolled his eyes as he heard his dad called his name from downstairs. He made it to the bottom of the stairs before his dad started to speak up again. “It’s not every day our family gets honored by this thankless community.”_

_“This is an honor?” Louis asked sarcastically._

_“City council chose us to represent this entire town for this year’s festival assembly. Do you know why?” Bobby asked._

_“Because you told them you’d pay for the costumes yourself?” Louis deadpanned._

_Bobby ignored his son’s sarcasm and continued to speak again. “Because we, the Horans represent everything people in this community wish they were. We command respect from our neighbors. They look up to us.”_

_Louis rolled his eyes and ignored his father’s rambling. “Dad, depending on how many people are there, do you think I could borrow your fake rifle to shoot myself?”  
_  
**

“That accident happened on last year’s town festival assembly. Truck overturned and Liam and his passenger were thrown from the truck. Passenger got by with minor injuries. Doesn’t remember a thing about the accident. Liam, as you imagine, didn’t fare as well.” Yasir explains to Brian as they sit at the front porch of his house. 

“So tomorrow we get to climb Mount Everest.” Brian states. 

Yasir nods. “Just about.” 

Brian then tells him about the condition at Yasir’s previous hospital and they both laughs together at some ridiculous stories. 

“That guy is totally deranged.” Yasir chuckles as Brian had told him about one of the doctor that he had known before. 

“He wants to be you.” Brian says. “Hell, I wouldn’t mind being you, minus the beard.” He continues. 

Yasir smiles and shakes his head. “Well, being me is not all cracked up to be these days.”

“Come on. Can’t be all that bad. How are the kids doing?” 

“Well, Harry’s adjusting well. He’s a trouper.” 

“And Zayn?” 

“Zayn would hate me in every one of the 48 contiguous states plus Hawaii and Alaska so we might as well be here.” Yasir says and Brian laughs. 

“About tomorrow, boss. What’s the deal?” Brian asks, changing the topic to the surgery. “I was wondering though, why I’m here. I’m flattered that you wanted me but the kid’s team was available. I checked around.” 

“I thought it’d be good to have a familiar and trusted face in the room.” Yasir replies to Brian’s question. “And..to be honest with you..I…I have a slight case of performance jitters.” 

**

“No. No. That’s not how we do it.” Harry says. 

“Sorry. I forgot.” Yasir replies to his son. 

“Towel, nurse.” Yasir says and Harry hands the towel to his father. He looks as his father wipes his face before Harry shakes his head. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna be a brain surgeon when I grow up.” Harry says. 

“No? Why not?” 

“Well, for one thing, you have to wake up early, even on Saturday.” 

“Yeah, that can be a drawback.” 

“And because I’m probably gonna be a singer.” Harry states. 

“I thought you were gonna be a fireman?” Yasir asks. 

“Well, it depends on my free time.” Harry says and they both laugh at the ridiculousness of the answer. 

“Dad?” 

“Huh?” 

“Are you gonna work at the hospital all the time again?” Harry asks. 

Yasir stops what he is doing and turns to look at his youngest son. “No, Hazza. Just today.” 

Harry smiles and nods. “Good.” He says before he walks out from his dad’s room to wake uncle Brian up. 

“Uncle Brian.” Harry singsongs as he tries to wake up the man on the couch. “You have to go do brain surgery.” Harry continues. He jumps in surprise when Brian opens up his eyes and starts to tickle him. 

**

“Butter or cream cheese?” Zayn asks as soon as his father steps into the kitchen. 

“Zayn, you didn’t have to do all this.” Yasir says as he looks around to see the set of breakfast on the kitchen stool. 

Zayn shrugs. “I was up.” Zayn says like it is not a big deal. 

Yasir smiles gratefully and takes his seat. “Well, cream cheese would be great.” 

“Morning.” Brian greets chirpily and put some cassettes on the table. 

“Oh, man. You brought them.” Yasir says excitedly. 

Zayn rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “You know there was this invention couple of years ago. It was called the CD player. You should check it out.” Zayn tells his father. 

Yasir shakes his head, ignoring his son’s sarcasm. “There are the mix tapes your mom made for our surgeries. She’d figure out what songs to pick based on the kind of surgery we’re doing.” 

“Here, add this to your collection.” Zayn says as he hands a CD to his father. Yasir stares at the CD in speechless. “You made this?” Yasir asks. 

“No big deal.” Zayn replies. “I was fiddling around with iTunes.” He continues before he announces that he is going back to bed and leaves the kitchen. 

“Mix CDs. It’s a whole new world man.” Brian says, smiling at the scene that happened. 

Yasir stares at the CD again and smiles. “Yes, it is.” 

“He can’t hate you all that much.” 

**

“I’m out.” Louis announces to his father as he walks towards the door. 

“Wait, Lou. Come here for a second.” Bobby calls his son. 

“I don’t really feel like talking, Dad.” Louis says. 

“No. No. No. I want to tell you something. It’s about Dr. Malik.”

“Yeah, he’s the axis of evil. I know.” 

Bobby nods. “Yes, he is. But he’s also an unbelievable surgeon. If he wasn’t so annoying in every single aspect of his existence, I’d say we were lucky to have him here.” 

Louis rolls his eyes. “What’s your point?” 

“My point is, Liam is in good hands.” 

Louis shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk about Liam.” 

“I understand. You..” 

“You don’t understand.” Louis raises his voices slightly. “Just, forget it. I will be back in a few hours.” He says before he walks out from his house quickly. 

“Lou..” Bobby tries to call but Louis slams the front door instead. 

**

“Hello?” Zayn says as soon as he picks up the phone. 

“Hey.” Niall greets. “Zayn, it’s Niall.” 

Zayn nods. “Hey. Are you all right? Are you at the hospital already?” Zayn asks. 

‘Yeah, but nothing’s happening yet. I guess they’re prepping him or something. Whatever that means.” Niall replies, shuffling his feet nervously. 

“Probably shaving his head.” Zayn pipes in. “Or, you know..” Zayn closes his eyes and sighs. “I don’t know what I’m talking about.” 

“So what are you up today? Anything fun?” Niall asks, changing the topic. He just needs some distraction from thinking about the worst for Liam’s surgery. 

“Not really.” Zayn replies. “I got to finish some math homework, read a couple comics, eat lunch. I’m falling asleep just listening to myself.” 

Niall smiles. “It sounds kind of nice to me.” 

“You doing okay?” 

Niall sighs before he replies to Zayn’s question. “Honestly, I don’t know. But this is what I’ve been waiting for, so it’s a good thing, right?” 

“Yeah.” Zayn replies. “I guess.” 

“Anyways, I should probably go.” Niall says after moments of silence. 

“Wait wait wait. I..”

“It’s okay. I should stay close to the OR in case there’s any news. Just wanted to touch base with normal for a minute.” Niall says. 

“You definitely called the wrong person for that.” Zayn says. 

Niall smiles nonetheless. “I’ll talk to you later, Zayn.” 

“Niall.Wait, Niall..” Zayn calls but Niall hangs up on him. 

**  
 __  
“Dad! It’s not an orchestra. It’s the school band.” Niall said to his frantic father in front of him. Sometimes his father was just too much.

_“All right. All right. Go find your brother.” His dad ordered and Niall rolled his eyes. Of course he was the one who was sent to find Louis, who was apparently missing in action. Niall walked towards the end of the field when suddenly he spotted two figures and he recognized who they were._

_“What are you guys doing?” Niall asked as soon as he reached both of them._

_“Hey Grover.” Liam greeted but Niall ignored him. “My dad’s waiting for us. We have to go, Lou.” Niall said. “And you’re so going to be busted for that.” Niall shook his head at the bottle of liquor in Louis’s hand._

_“Why?Who’s gonna tell?” Louis challenged._

_“He’s gonna smell it numb-nuts.” Niall replied._

_“Your brother had like 7000 breath mints.” Liam joined in, trying to save Louis. “It was my idea. I thought it’d be good to give him some liquid courage before he had to go on stage.” Liam admitted._

_“Why? He’s not making the speech.” Niall said in annoyance._

_“I’m wearing tights. Isn’t that enough?” Louis whined and Niall rolled his eyes at his brother’s attitude._

_“Let’s go before I tell dad.” Niall said and started to turn away. Louis was ahead of him when suddenly Niall turned back again to face Liam. “Don’t you even care that we’re fighting?”_

_Liam raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know we were fighting.”_

_“How could you not..?” Niall said and sighed at Liam’s cluelessness. “You know what? Fine. Forget it.”_

_“No. Wait.” Liam said and grabbed Niall’s arms. “I’m sorry.” He apologized._

_“What you’re sorry for? You didn’t know we were fighting.” Niall said._

_“I am sorry for whatever I did that pissed you off.” Liam said and when Niall didn’t reply with anything, Liam continued again. “it’s because of earlier. When you said what you said to me at the lake and I didn’t say what I should have said back.”_

_Niall shook his head. “You didn’t have to say anything back. I’m just…I’m hurt that you didn’t.”_

_“Don’t take it the wrong way.” Liam said._

_“How am I supposed to take it, Liam? It’s the first time I’ve ever said that to someone I wasn’t related to.”_

_“It just took me by surprise, that’s all.” Liam replied._

_Niall sighed. “Me too.”_

_Liam took a step forward and stared into Niall’s eyes. “You are the longest relationship I have ever had, Ni.” Liam said and paused. “Wanna go watch fireworks together later?”_

_Niall averted Liam’s stare and shrugged. “I guess. I got to go.” He said before he started to walk away._

_“Aren’t you gonna kiss me goodbye?” Liam called out after Niall._

_“I’m late.”  
_  
**

Zayn was working on his essay when Nina knocks and enters his back door. “I baked some muffins for the munchkins. I thought I’d bring you some too.” She offers and put the plate in front of Zayn. 

“Thank you. I hope Harry isn’t too much trouble.” Zayn says to Nina. 

“What, are you kidding? Sam’s in his glory. Harry made a pillow fort and they’re defending the room against raptors.” Nina tells Zayn. “Any word from your dad yet?” 

“Not yet but these things usually take like 10 hours.” 

Nina nods. “Oh, I guess you must be pretty used to this, huh?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Kind of. Although I don’t usually know the person so it’s a little different.” 

“You know Liam?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Niall. Niall Horan. Friend of mine from school.” 

Nina smiles. “He is a sweet boy. He babysits for Sam once in a while.” 

“So, what’s he like? Liam?” Zayn asks out of curiosity. 

“Liam? He is a charmer. He’s the kind of kid who forgets to mow your lawn for two weeks and when he finally comes you end up paying him for three.” Nina smiles and shakes her head fondly. “I think he was the soccer star and he’s pretty smart too.” 

“So, he’s basically like God.” Zayn concludes. 

“No, you’d like him. He’d like you too.” Nina says. “So, how is Niall holding up?” 

“I don’t know. I mean..he sounded a little weird on the phone earlier. But you know..” 

“He probably could use a friend right now.” Nina says. 

“Yeah, well. I don’t know if I’m the best person for that.” 

Nina raises her eyebrows. “Why is that?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Let’s just say there are some issues.” 

“Like?” 

“Like I think he’s amazing and beautiful and completely out of my league.” Zayn admits. “He agrees.” When Nina throws him a knowing smile, Zayn continues again. “I mean, if he wanted me at the hospital, he could’ve asked me.” 

“Could he have?” Nina asks. When Zayn is left speechless, Nina continues again. “if going to the hospital is something that you think you can handle, then go. Because chances are Zayn, he probably really wants you there but he just doesn’t feel like he has right to ask you. If you don’t want to go, that’s okay too. You don’t have to be the best friend that helps get through this. You just have to decide what kind of friend you want to be.” 

Zayn shakes his head amusingly. “You know, I forget how good women are at this stuff.” 

**

Louis sits by the edge of the lake and crosses his arms over his chest. He stares at the open space in front of him and shakes his head, remembering the day. The day where everything went wrong.   
__  
“Hey dude! Wanna see something that will knock your pantaloons off?” Liam asked as soon as Louis escaped from the wrath of his father’s insanity about his speech at the festival.

_Louis nodded excitedly at his bestfriend. “Of course!” He exclaimed before both of them went to the parking lot._

_“Sweet!” Louis whistled as soon as they reached the parking lot. “Is this your dad’s new truck?” He asked, looking at Liam._

_Liam nodded and grinned widely. “Yeah. He doesn’t know jack. If this was mind, I would spike the tires and get a short-change shifter at minimum.” Liam said._

_A loud blasting car suddenly stopped behind the truck and some kids from their school eyed the truck and Liam back and forth. “Nice truck, Payne. Too bad it’s your daddy’s.” One of the guys mocked._

_Liam gave them a tight smile and shook his head. “Whatever, McNally. Like I can’t drive this whenever I want.”_

_“I’m sure you can.” The guy said sarcastically._

_“Besides, your brother is still the kid who threw up on the DMV guy during his driving test.” Liam deadpanned and Louis laughed behind him._

_“We’re going up to Miller’s Field for some off-roading. You two in?” The guy challenged Liam and Louis._

_Liam shrugged carelessly. “Hell yeah. We’ll see you in 20.” He replied and the other guys took off, leaving him and Louis alone._

_“But what about your dad?” Louis asked his bestfriend._

_“We’ll be back before the fireworks start. He’ll never know the difference.” Liam assured. “Come on, let’s go.”_

_It took 2 seconds before Louis agreed with his friend’s plan. “Alright, on one condition.”_

_“What?”_

_“Take me home to change first.” Louis whined as he pointed at his ridiculous costume and Liam burst out laughing._

_**_

_Louis felt the excitement burst inside his body as Liam drove the truck around the field faster than the other guys. “Woohoo!” They both whistled and made high fived each other happily. They went round and round on the dirt roads and it was fun and full of adrenaline._

_“Hey we got to get back. We don’t want to miss the fireworks.” The other guy said and they took off with their truck. Louis and Liam waved them off before Liam suddenly turned to look at Louis._

_“You ready?” Liam asked as he swayed the truck’s key in front of Louis._

_“You sure, it’s okay?” Louis asked, hesitate._

_Liam shook his head. “You cannot miss this. This is unbelievable.” Liam said._

_Louis sighed. “I’m still kind of messed up from before, man. What if I scratch the truck up?”_

_“What are you gonna hit here? A dust ball?” Liam asked. “If you scratch the truck, I’ll take the heat, all right?”_

_Louis looked at Liam and nodded finally. “Okay.”_

_Once Louis sat at the driver’s seat, he started to drive around like Liam did before. Liam was saying the truth before, it was unbelievable. They whirled around at the area for a while and both of them just laughing around together, enjoying the fun they had.  
_  
**

Niall sighs at the vending machine and stares at the junks inside the glasses. “You’re holding up the line.” Niall turns his head sharply as soon as he hears the voice. 

“Zayn! What are you doing here?” Niall asks, surprised by the sudden appearance of Zayn. 

“I wanted a Twix.” Zayn replies.

Niall shakes his head amusingly. “You came a long way.” 

Zayn shrugs and smiles. “Well, there’s two in a pack. You know, I really only wanted one. Needed somebody to share it with.” He says as he looks at Niall and making the blonde-haired boy laughs. 

Once they sits at the table at the cafeteria, Zayn opens up his backpack and starts to pull out some of the things. 

“Travel checkers. Travel Scrabble and Clue.” Zayn says as he lays down all the things on the table. 

Niall smiles. “Is there a travel-size Clue?” 

“Well Professor Plus wouldn’t look as cool all travel-sized and squashed up.” Zayn replies. “So, take your pick.”

Niall looks at all the things and points out at one of the small boxes. “Scrabble.” 

Zayn nods. “Excellent choice. And in case I have to challenge you..” Zayn trails off as he pulls out a small dictionary from his pocket. “Never say I didn’t come prepared.” 

Niall grins and stares at Zayn. “You must have lived at the hospitals back in London.”

“Actually this is the first time I’ve been since my Dad have been working.” Zayn says truthfully. 

Niall shakes his head and smiles again at Zayn. “You’re a good friend, Zayn.” 

Zayn returns the smile. “So are you.” 

**  
 _  
“Go for it! Go for it!” Liam exclaimed as he encouraged Louis to drive faster. Louis took the challenge and whirled the truck around on the dust track._

_“There you go, man. Gun it! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Liam exclaimed again and Louis just laughed at his friend’s excitement. He pressed the pedal harder and the truck went faster than before. He played around with the steering when suddenly he heard Liam yelled. “Louis!” And everything went dark._  
  
Louis suddenly stands up and heads out quickly to his house from the lake. He opens the front door and goes straight to find his father. One look at his face, Louis knows his father knows something is wrong. “Louis, what is it?” 

“I remember everything.” Louis starts before he continues. “About the accident, I remember everything that happened that day.” 

Bobby takes a step forward towards his son, trying to ease the devastated look on his son’s face. “Well, that’s natural. It’s been a while.” He says calmly. “The immediate effects of the trauma..” 

“I always have.” Louis finally confesses. 

“Go on.” Bobby says, finally giving his full attention to his son. 

“That afternoon, he stole some stuff from his dad’s liquor cabinet. Liam. And we were drinking.” Louis starts and one of the tears escape from his eyes as his voice quivers. “The ceremony is over and these guys are gonna go off-roading and the truck was there and I knew we shouldn’t have taken it. We get up to Miller’s Field. He says that I can drive..” 

Bobby cut his son off. “Slow down. You’re not making any sense.” 

“It was me, dad. I was driving the truck when the accident happened. Not Liam.” 

“But Sergeant Danforth said..” 

“He assumed by where Liam’s body landed that he was driving and I let him think it.” 

Bobby sighs. “And you were drinking too?” 

Louis nods and wipes some of the tears on his face. “Yeah. I was. You see? It was my fault. Now if Liam dies, it’s gonna be like I killed him.” He says. “Like I killed my best friend. And I wanted to tell you when it happened. And I should have told you and I’m sorry, dad. I’m so sorry.” Louis starts to sob. “Niall’s gonna hate me forever.” 

**

“You were driving?” Mr. Payne asks and Louis nods. “Yeah.” 

“And you waited until today to tell us?”Mr. Payne’s voice is raising slightly as he stands up. “I just want to understand. Four months. After all is said and done, I found out that Liam wasn’t driving. I don’t get it. What does that mean?” 

“It means that he wasn’t driving. That’s all. He was still in the truck. He still got hurt.” Mrs. Payne says, trying to calm her husband. “It doesn’t change anything.” 

Mr. Payne shakes his head. “No, you’re wrong. It has to. Something has to change.”

“Look, you have every reason to be upset. Louis just wants to make things right. We both do.” Bobby steps in besides his son. 

“Bobby..how can things be made right when Liam is like he is?” 

“I don’t know. The truth is, this is just a first step.”

Mr. Payne glares Louis and Bobby. “That shouldn’t be my son in there.” He spats before he walks away. 

“Louis, sit down.” Mrs, Payne says and Louis sits down dejectedly. 

“I know I did a horrible thing. I’m so sorry.” Louis says sincerely. 

“Louis, to my knowledge, you’re the first person to take any responsibility for what happened that day.” Mrs. Payne says. 

“I should have said something sooner.” Louis says regretfully. 

“Yeah, I could say the same thing about myself.” Mrs. Payne replies. “But I haven’t been able to bring myself to say those words.”

Louis shakes his head. “You weren’t there.”

“How can I not know my son was drinking or that he took the truck keys? When I look back at that day, I think that I knew.” 

Louis nods and sniffs. “I miss him.” He admits. 

Mrs. Payne smiles sadly at Louis. “Me too.” 

**

“It’s official. I have run out of things to say.” Zayn announces before he turns to look at Niall again. “I’m really not this boring. It’s just rare that I spend so long with one person. You know, I’m not usually scraping the bottom of the barrel. Most of the time I get in, I get out and nobody gets hurt.” 

Niall sighs tiredly and shakes his head. “It’s not you. This whole day’s starting to feel longer than the four months Liam has been in a coma.”

“God. Four months.” Zayn mutters as he realizes that it is indeed a long time for someone to be in a coma. He glances at the somber look of Niall’s face. “What are you thinking about?” 

“I’m thinking about the moment when Liam finally wakes up. I’ve thought about it a billion times.” Niall says and stops. 

“Yeah?” Zayn urges Niall to continue. 

“And I know what I’m gonna say to him.” Niall looks up to notice that Zayn has look away and shakes his head. “It’s not what you think. I’m gonna tell him how sorry I am.” 

Zayn stares at Niall in confusion. “Sorry?” 

Niall swallows thickly before he speaks up. “Zayn, there’s a whole part of this thing I’ve never told anybody about.” 

That words gain Zayn’s attention and he shifts to sit closer to Niall. “What?” 

“We had a fight that day. Before he took the truck. A big fight. I told him I loved him.” 

“You guys have a weird way of fighting.” Zayn says. 

“He didn’t say it back.”

“Well maybe he was just having a hard time with the words.” Zayn says, trying to be optimistic. “You know sometimes people really want to say something but they just can’t.” 

Niall looks at Zayn and nods. “Maybe.” He says. “Maybe he never really loved me.” Niall continues. “And do you know what the worst part is worse than the waiting and the operation, the tubes and the machines? Sometimes I think he wasn’t just going for a joy ride that day. I think he was running away from me.” 

“Niall..this is gonna sound really lame but, it’s the truth. I know how you feel. For a long time after my mom had her accident, I was sure it was my fault. Blaming yourself, it’s just a way to try and make sense of something that will never make sense when the truth is it was what it was. An accident.” Zayn says, trying to wipe off the devastated look on Niall’s face. 

Niall nods and looks at Zayn. “It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? Out of all of the people I’ve known my whole life, you’re the only one who showed up today.” 

**

“Liam came through very well.” Yasir announces as soon as he steps into the waiting room to face the Paynes along with Bobby Horan and his eldest son. 

“We got the chip. Actually it was two chips. We found a second one during surgery. We had some bleeding we didn’t expect which slowed us down and I can’t promise you that didn’t do any damage. We wont’ know where we stand for a while. In fact, for a week or two, it may seem as though nothing has changed at all. But I want you to know that we’ve done everything humanly possible to help your son.” Yasir explains to Mr. and Mrs. Payne. 

“Can we see him now?” Mrs. Payne asks, with a relief smile on her face. 

Yasir nods. “He’s on his way to ICU. The OR nurse will show you the way.” He says and both Paynes take off, gratefully thanking him before that. 

Yasir then turns to the other way to find Niall and once he enters the cafeteria, Niall stands up and looks at him with a hopefull expression. “How is he?” 

“He’s out of surgery now.” Yasir says. “If you want to see him, the nurse will show you the way.” He continues and Niall nods. “Okay.” 

Niall is about to leave with the nurse before he turns around and jogs towards the doctor and hugs him tightly. “Thank you, Dr. Malik.” Niall says gratefully before he pulls away and follows the nurse again. 

Yasir watches Niall goes before he looks at his son. “Consider a career in neurosurgery?” 

“I am now.” Zayn replies, rolling his eyes at his father’s teasing. “Harry’s with Nina.” Zayn adds. 

Yasir nods. “I figured.” He then takes a seat in front of Zayn. 

“So, how did it go?” Zayn asks. 

“Okay. I didn’t know if we did any good. From here on in it’s wait-and-see.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I meant, how did it go for you?” 

“Truthfully? I was scared.” Yasir admits.

“Scared?” 

“You called it, remember?”

“Well, what were you scared of?”

“That I would fail Liam, Niall, the Paynes..” Yasir says and turns to look at Zayn.”..you.” He adds. 

Zayn stares at his father in disbelief. “You were scared you would fail me?”

“Yeah. I was.” Yasir nods. “But the music helped.” He adds, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere. 

“I’m glad you liked it.” Zayn smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really appreciate all the feedbacks :) thanks


	8. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to: Everwood. I'm just a humbled writer who wrote this based on the story. But thanks for the feedbacks anyway. :D

“Hey dad, can you sign this?” Zayn asks as he gives his father a piece of paper during their breakfast. 

“What am I signing?” Yasir asks before he takes the paper from Zayn’s hand. 

Zayn shrugs. “Permission slip for a field trip to the mine.” 

“That sounds educational.” 

“Yes. What kind of future would I have without knowing how a mine operates?” Zayn says as he rolls his eyes sarcastically. 

Yasir chuckles and starts to sign the slip. “Come on, Zayn. You don’t want wanna be the only kid in school who doesn’t know where the coal comes from.” 

Zayn shakes his head at his father’s comment. “Actually, I don’t have to go on this thing.” 

“Why wouldn’t you?” Yasir raises his eyebrows. 

“I don’t know. I just figured that tomorrow’s your anniversary.” Zayn says. 

Yasir smiles at Zayn’s thoughtfulness. “Don’t worry about that. Your mother and I never like to make a big deal out of our anniversary anyway.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “What do you mean? Last year you guys flew off to Hawaii.” 

“Yeah. Well, it was one of the smaller islands and we had coupons.” Yasir says. “Your concern is appreciated, Zayn but I’m fine.” He continues as he smiles at his son. “Now stop loitering. Go on, get to school.” And as soon as Zayn walks out from the door, Yasir’s smile falters. 

 

**

 

“Hey Niall, is there any chance you might wanna do this together?” Zayn asks Niall who sits in front of him in the science lab as soon as the teacher finished with her instruction. “You know, be in the same group.” He continues when Niall looks at him blankly. 

“Well, he has a few other things on his mind right now, Darkman.” Sean, who is sitting beside Niall suddenly replies to Zayn instead. “Wait, we’re definitely in the same group, right?” He asks as he turns to look at Niall. 

Niall shakes his head at his friend’s immature behavior. “Whatever. You, me, Zayn. That’s fine.” Niall says distractedly. “Look, even if Danny wants to join the group, that’s fine, okay? Just let it go, please.” Niall snaps as he looks at Sean. 

Zayn watches Niall for a moment and sighs. Niall is not smiling yet that day and Zayn knows it has something to do with someone named Liam. 

 

** 

 

Yasir picks up the ringing phone at the house when it doesn’t stop ringing for a while. “Hello?” 

“Hello, Dr. Yasir Malik?” The girl on the other end of the line asks. 

“Yes, this is he.” 

“Oh, thank God. This is Minnie from West Village Travel. I can’t believe I finally located you. I’ve been trying to find you for days. I have your tickets.” The girl says. 

Yasir shakes his head confusingly. “What tickets?” 

“This isn’t a surprise, is it? I don’t have that marked anywhere.” The girl says before she continues. “I guess your wife made the reservation. I wasn’t here when these were booked but this definitely says: _’Anniversary trip for Dr. Malik and wife.’_ ”

“My wife must have made them.” Yasir mumbles quietly. 

“Then it was a surprise. I’m sorry. But you’re not getting the destination out of me no matter how hard you pry.”

Yasir swallows thickly and he grips on the phone cradle tightly as he is afraid that he might drop it any second. “Well, Minnie. The fact is ..” Yasir hesitates. “The fact is…” He trails off. “The fact is, we’re in Ireland now. Let me give you the address.” He says instead of the true fact. 

 

**

_  
Niall quickened his steps as he approaches the familiar hospital room. He takes a deep breath before he enters the room._

_“Man, the Broncos suck this year.” Niall’s eyes nearly bulge out as he looks at the person who is talking from the hospital bed._

_“You’re awake.” Niall says as he grins widely at Liam, who is apparently awake from his coma._

_“Of course I’m awake. What’d you expect?” Liam says. “I’m a little tired but other than that..”_

_Niall shakes his head. “I didn’t know. The nurses said that..”_

_Liam smiles at Niall and pats the small space on his bed. “Hey, come here.”_

_Niall, who is still in the shock steps forward and reaches for Liam’s hand and sits._

_“I heard you.” Liam says. “Everything you said.” He continues. “The whole time I heard what you said.”_

_“You did?” Niall says, his voice quivers._

_Liam nods. “I felt you pulling me back. But I was like trapped. You know that dream you have when you’re trying to run and your feet are glued to the floor and you’re naked?”_

_“I’m not usually naked in that dream but okay.” Niall replies._

_“Well, that’s how I felt.” Liam says. “Like my feet were glued to the floor and my mouth was wired shut. The whole time you were here I…I kept wanting to say..”_

_“What?” Niall whispers suddenly._

_“I love you, Niall. And I should have told you that day at the lake but I was afraid. I love you and I can’t live without you. You’re the reason I came back.” Liam says. “Niall?” He calls out.  
_

“Niall? Do you hear me? Your phone is not gonna work down here.” Niall turns his head to look at the voice. It’s not Liam’s. It’s Sean’s. “Huh?” Niall replies, confusingly. 

Sean shakes his head at Niall’s weird attitude. “Your phone won’t work.” He points out at the phone that Niall is holding tightly in his hand. “Don’t waste the battery.” 

Niall checks his phone and curses. “Shit.” He looks at the no signal icon that appears on the screen. “All right, I’m gonna run outside to see if I have any messages.” He says and turns around quickly, heading to the other end of the mine. 

Zayn watches as Niall walks pass him and tries to say hi but Niall seems like he doesn’t notice Zayn at all. 

 

**

 

“People, may I have your attention please?” The teacher says and Niall turns to look at her, along with his other classmates. “Route 79 has been closed due to the storm. I’d like you all to contact your parents on the public phones in the hall, tell them you’ll be late for supper.” The teacher announces. 

“Well, that bites.” Zayn says and Niall turns to look at the boy beside him. 

“Did you have plans for tonight?” Niall asks. 

“Kind of. I was supposed to get dinner with my dad. It’s his anniversary.”

Niall winces on reflex. “How’s he handling that?” 

“Well, he’s no longer talking to her like she’s still here so I guess that’s a step into the right direction.” Zayn says. 

 

**

 

Yasir is cutting the potato when the phone rings and he picks it up. “Hello?” 

“Hey dad.” Zayn’s voice appears on the other end of the line. 

“Hey, where are you? I’m just about to start cooking.” Yasir asks.

“I’m at the mine still.” 

“Still?” 

“Yeah. There’s a storm. We have to wait here till it passes.” Zayn explains. 

“You think it’ll be long? I can hold dinner until..” 

“I think I’m gonna be late. They said we’re not gonna leave till 9 at the earliest.” 

“So you won’t make it home for dinner.” Yasir states as a matter of fact. 

Zayn sighs. “I’m sorry.” He apologizes. He really wants to be at home with his father but God has some other plans for him unfortunately. 

“No, no. It’s fine.” 

“There’s nothing I can do.” Zayn tries weakly. 

“No, of course not. It’s a good thing I didn’t cook any of this stuff. Well, don’t worry. I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Dad..” 

“Hey, do me a favor. If I’m asleep when you get home, wake me up will you?” 

Zayn sighs. “Okay. Bye.” 

“See you.” Yasir puts down the phone and looks at the stuffs in front of him. He sighs before he walks towards the table on at the kitchen and stares at the envelope that is still unopened. He takes a deep breath before he pulls out the things inside the envelope. “Florence.” Yasir mumbles quietly as he looks at the brochure and the tickets. And he sees the name printed on the ticket, he can feel his heart breaks a little. “Julia Malik.” He whispers brokenly and before he knows it, he puts his head into his arms and cries, alone. 

 

**

 

Zayn looks as Niall clumsily finding his cellphone in his bag when he hears the ringing and picks it up quickly. “Hello?”

“Is this Niall Horan?” Niall hears the voice asks. 

“Yes, who’s this?” He replies. 

“This is Liam Payne’s nurse. I just wanted to let you know that your boyfriend is doing very well. He’s sitting up right now and singing the greatest hits of N’Sync.” The voice says again. 

Niall feels the tears well up in his eyes. “Who’s this?” He hisses angrily because he realizes that no one in the right mind would tell him about the news like this. 

Zayn watches as Niall’s eyes welled up and his eyes catch at the sight of the two of his classmates fooling around at the public phone and looks at Niall’s direction. Angrily, Zayn strides towards both of them and shoves them. “You think that’s funny?” 

The boy then shoves Zayn off. “Get off me jerk!” 

“Don’t you think before you open your mouth?” Zayn yells angrily at the boy even if he is being restrained by the other students. 

“Who are you? The coma police?” The boy taunts and Zayn can feel his blood boils again. 

“Are you that much of dumb-ass?” Zayn spats angrily. “You have any idea what it’s like to lose somebody?” 

Zayn is about to punch the boy when he finally pulls himself out from the restraining hands around him but the teacher gets in and tries to break the fight. “Stop it or you’ll be taking this class next semester!” The teacher warns.

Zayn huffs angrily and glares at the boy, before he turns away to walk back to Niall. Niall who is watching the scene before, doesn’t know what to do except letting Zayn to lead him away from the jerks. 

 

**

 

“Yeah, I think this area is off-limits.” Zayn says as he looks at Niall when they both seats at one of the areas in the mine. 

Niall shrugs. “Let them arrest me.” 

“I could show you how to take a mug shot.” Zayn says, tries to joke and makes Niall smiles because frankly, frown doesn’t suit Niall’s face at all. “You could look at my previous yearbook picture.” 

They fall into silence for a moment before Zayn starts to speak again. “Can you imagine, working down here, spending whole days without ever seeing the sun?” 

Niall shrugs. “I feel like I’ve been living down here for the past four and a half months.” He admits. “I can’t even remember what my life was like before.” He continues. “Like every second is about turning back time. Convincing Liam’s parents that he should have the surgery, convincing your dad that he was the best one to do it. Now the surgery’s over, Liam is still lying in that bed and I can’t convince myself that any of it was worth it.” 

Zayn turns to look at Niall. “It was.” He says firmly. 

“No.” Niall shakes his head. “No. Even my friends look at me like I’m pathetic because of sitting around waiting for some sort of..”

“Miracle?” Zayn cuts Niall’s off. “You should. I hear it happen every once in a while.” 

Niall seems at lost on what to reply so he just nods. “Can I ask you a question?” Zayn asks suddenly.

“Sure.” Niall nods. 

“If he suddenly wakes up tomorrow, you and I will become total strangers?” 

Niall turns his head to look at Zayn. “Strangers?” When Zayn doesn’t even look at him, Niall decides to speak up again. “Zayn, I’ve shared more with you in the past few months than I’ve shared with anybody in my whole life.” 

“Yeah, I know..” Zayn trails off unsurely. 

“You’re the only person who’s been here for me this whole time. You came to the hospital with me. You helped convince your dad. The way I see it, if there’s any miracle in my life right now, it’s the fact that your dad looked at a map and of all of the places, he decided to move here.” Niall says. 

Zayn turns his head again to look at boy besides him and they both stares at each other’s eyes silently. Without any thought, Zayn leans in closer and puts his lips on Niall’s and Niall replies the kiss before he suddenly pulls away and turns around. “We should probably check. They might be boarding.” Niall says before he quickly stands up and grabs his backpack, leaving Zayn alone. 

Zayn watches as Niall is literally running away from him and he facepalms himself. “What have I done?” He says to himself. 

 

**

 

Zayn enter the bus and spots the empty space besides Niall but Niall seems to have another idea and taps on Sean’s shoulder and offers his friend the empty space beside him. Zayn sighs and walks pass Niall but without taking a chance to glance at Niall but Niall is avoiding to look at him. 

Niall stares at the window and refuses to look at Zayn because how in the hell that he was responsive to Zayn’s kiss because he is sure that he is in love with Liam, not Zayn. His stupor is broke by the sounds of his ringing tone and he picks it up. “Hello?” 

“Hey, dad. Yeah, we’re just on our way home.” Niall says before he suddenly gasps in surprise. “What? When?” 

“Hey, is it about Liam?” Niall hears Sean asks beside him but he is too shocked with his dad’s news to reply to Sean at the moment. But when the conversation ends, Niall turns to look at Sean and smiles. “He woke up.” 

Zayn feels his heart drops as he hears the words from the seats in front of him. He shakes his head and pulls in his earphone instead without having the desire to hear the rest of the conversation because he knows that by tomorrow, his life will be changed. 

 

**

 

“You’re safe to eat. They’re from a mix.” Yasir says as he looks at Zayn who is staring at the pancakes in front of him like it is an alien. 

“That’s okay. I had my Cocoa Puffs.” Zayn waves his father off. 

“So, how was the big mine trip? You came in pretty late last night.” 

“Oh, it was great except for the whole ‘getting stuck six hours at a mine’ part.” Zayn says. 

“Did you learn anything?” 

“Yes. Never go into a mine in a thunderstorm.” 

Yasir laughs and shakes his head. “And Niall, how’s he doing? The hospital called.” 

“I don’t know. He’s probably there already. He seemed pretty excited.” 

“Well, he doesn’t know what he’s in for.” Yasir says and Zayn refuses to ask on what his father meant by that because honestly, he is trying to learn to not care about Niall. 

They eat their breakfast in silence before Harry stands up and announces that he has to go to school earlier with his friends. Zayn watches as his brother walks out of the door before he suddenly pulls out a big paper bag from under the table and gives it to his father. 

“What’s this?” 

“Happy anniversary.” 

Yasir gasps in surprise. “This is very thoughtful.” 

“It’s..from Harry. It was his idea.” Zayn says. 

“When did you guys have time to..?” 

“We got it a while ago. We were gonna give it to you for Christmas but after yesterday it seemed like…” Zayn trails off. “He thought you needed a boost.” 

Yasir smiles fondly as he looks at Zayn again. “Should I open it now or..?” 

Zayn stands up and grabs his backpack. “Whatever.” He replies to his father before he walks out of the door. 

Yasir waits until Zayn is really out of the door before he starts to open the bag. When he pulls out the thing from the bag, he grins widely. The gift is the black, medium-sized bag that the home-doctor always uses and he feels deeply touched by the gift. 

Yasir runs his hands on the bag thoroughly, admiring its classy design before he hears Harry’s voice announcing that he had forgotten his packed lunch. “What’s that, dad?” Yasir hears Harry asks as his youngest son points out at the gift. At the moment, Yasir knows that it was not Harry’s idea to buy him the gift like Zayn had told him. 

“Well, it’s a present.” 

“From who?” 

“I’m not exactly sure.” He replies but smiles fondly. 

 

**

 

“Listen, Niall. I want you to be prepared.” Bobby says to his son and Niall nods. “The doctors told us he’s in a state of nonverbal consciousness.”

“I know. I know dad. He can’t speak.” Niall says and smiles at his worried father. They are on their way to Liam’s hospital room and Niall feels his nervousness grows as he steps closer to his destination. “As long as he can see me, that’s all that matters.” Niall continues. 

Bobby looks at his son and ruffles his hair affectionately. He knows how much Niall loves Liam and he is worried that Niall is having too much hope because he doesn’t want his son to be crushed later. That’s why he decides to be with Niall at the hospital to see Liam. “I’ll be right here.” He says to Niall as he watches his son turns and enters the room. 

Niall takes a deep breath as soon as he enters the room. The first sight that greets him is Liam, who is still lying on the hospital bed with several wires attached to his body like before except that his eyes are open. Niall steps closer to the bed and swallows nervously. 

“Hey there.” Niall greets as he stares at Liam’s eyes. He misses those eyes. “I wanted to be the first person here when you woke up but I was at the school trip when my dad called last night. And I would have run here if I could. I stayed up all night wrapping a whole bunch of gifts and stuff. There’s so much I wanna show you.” Niall rambles and pulls out some of the things from the paper bag that he brings with him. “Brought a whole bunch of pictures from last summer.” He continues and looks at Liam again. He stops talking when Liam seems to only stare at him like a Liam doesn’t know who he is. He knows that Liam can’t really speak at the moment, but those eyes. Those eyes are looking at him like he is a stranger. 

Niall shakes his head and starts to turn away. He can’t do this. “Niall?” Niall hears his father calls for him when he strides to the hallway, ignoring his father who is standing in front of Liam’s hospital room. 

Bobby jogs to catch up on Niall when his son doesn’t seem like he wants to stop walking away. “Niall, are you all right?” He asks as soon as he reaches Niall. 

“Of course I’m all right. I’ve been waiting for this moment for over four months.” Niall replies in a shaky voice. “Liam’s back.”

Bobby watches as Niall’s body starts to shake in front of him and he grabs his son’s shoulder and turns him around. “Come here.” Bobby coaxes softly and Niall buries his head into his dad’s chest. “I forgot that one of the effects might be the memory loss. How could I forget about that, dad? He looked at me like I was a stranger in there. What was I thinking?” Niall hisses angrily before he stops. Bobby pats Niall’s back in silence, only listening to his son’s rant. “He doesn’t remember me. He doesn’t remember me at all.” Niall whispers brokenly and starts to cry.


	9. Moving On?

Harry opens his eyes as he scrunches his nose at the smell. He suddenly gets out from his bed and opens his bedroom’s door. He is standing in front of his room when suddenly Zayn opens his door too. He turns to look at Zayn with wide eyes. 

“Do you think…?” Harry trails off. 

“Can’t be.” Zayn replies. 

Suddenly Yasir pops out from his own room too and rubs his eyes. “You guys been cooking?” He asks both of his sons. 

Zayn and Harry shake their heads simultaneously. “No.” 

“We thought you were.” Harry says. 

Yasir blinks his eyes. “Really? Because it smells great.” 

“Which is why we were suspicious.” Zayn deadpans. Yasir ignores Zayn’s remarks and all three of them walk to the kitchen to find out who the culprit is. 

Harry’s eyes widened again as soon as he sees the people when they enter the kitchen. “Nonnie!” Harry exclaims excitedly and steps towards his grandmother.

“Oh Harry! My baby!” Ruth says as she hugs her youngest grandchild. Harry wraps his arms around his grandmother in return and whispers “I miss you.” Into her ears. 

Zayn watches the exchanges fondly before he starts to walk towards his grandfather. “Grandpa?” Zayn’s grandfather opens his arms widely for Zayn to come into. “There he is.” 

Ruth looks at Harry and smiles. “Did we wake you?” She asks and turns to look at her husband. “Jacob, I told you to stop slamming the plates down so hard.” 

“If I slammed the plates, they have would be broken!” Jacob says, defending himself. 

Yasir who is quietly standing beside the entrance of the kitchen decides to announce his presence at the moment. “Jacob. Ruth. How did you get here? I would have given you a ride.” He says. 

“At 5.30 in the morning?” 

“We rented a car.” Ruth explains. “I thought we’d take a shuttle but they don’t have any. Did you know that?” Ruth says as it is the most ridiculous thing ever. 

“No idea.” Yasir replies. 

“Well, it’s true. You don’t lock your door either. We noticed.” Ruth says. “Must be very safe here.” She continues. 

Yasir sighs internally. “I thought it was.” He mumbles. 

Ruth ignores Yasir and turns to look at Zayn instead. “Zayn, how many pieces of French toast do you want?” 

“Two?” Zayn replies, which is sounding more like a question. 

Ruth gasps at Zayn’s answer. “Two? You’re wasting away to nothing. Have four. Yasir, sit. I’ll get some juice.” 

“That’s okay, I got it.” Yasir waves Ruth off and starts to head to the fridge. 

“Come on. Sit down. You look like hell.” Jacob says bluntly. “With the beard. Oh my God, it looks just like me. I thought Zayn was kidding when he told me over the telephone.” 

“I can’t believe you guys are here.” Zayn says, a big smile plastered on his face. 

Yasir forces a smile. “Me either.” 

“Me either. This is the best surprise!” Harry exclaims excitedly. 

Yasir sips his juice silently. “Sure is.” 

**

“Now, this wasn’t on sale, but I couldn’t resist.” Ruth says as she pulls out some clothes from the paper bag. “Look at all the buttons. Isn’t it just to die, huh?” 

Harry swallows nervously as he looks at the clothes that his grandmother had bought for him. “Is there anything else?” 

Ruth shakes her head. “Now would I come all the way from London without stopping by at Zaro’s bakery, huh?” 

Harry swears his smile can get any wider as he looks at the small packages in front of him. “Black and white cookies!” He exclaims as he bites it happily. God, he misses being in London at the moment. 

“Harry, you’d better hurry up for school.” Yasir suddenly says and Harry sighs. 

“Do I have to? I want to show Nonnie and Grandpa around Mullingar.” Harry pleads, giving his puppy eyes look to his father. 

“What about school?” 

“Oh, what’s he gonna miss in one day of learning?” Ruth says and Harry swears that his grandma is the best grandmother in the world. 

Yasir, reluctantly agrees and nods. “Fine. Fine.” 

“I wanna show them around too.” Zayn suddenly says. 

Yasir shakes his head. “Forget about it.” 

Zayn pouts but grins nonetheless. At least he tried, right? 

“Don’t worry, Zayn. We’re gonna have plenty of time together.” Jacob says and Zayn smiles at his grandfather. 

“So, how much time are we talking about here, Jake? A couple of days?” Yasir asks curiously. 

“There’s my son-in-law. We just got here and you’re already kicking us out?” 

Yasir shakes his head. “No, it’s just that if you’d called, I could have been more prepared. You know like foods and stuffs.” 

“How come you didn’t call? How many months have you been here already?” Jacob replies instead. 

“It’s not like I wasn’t planning on inviting you. I just wanted to wait until everything was in order.” Ysair explains. 

Ruth who senses a sudden tension in the air, goes to her husband and rubs his back comfortingly. “And what’s not in order?” Jacob asks. 

Ruth shakes her head at her husband, signaling him to stop and turns to look at Yasir. “We’ll go to the market, Yasir. Don’t worry about anything. Just pretend like we’re not even here.” 

**

Zayn is checking his schedule when suddenly someone knocks on his door and opens it. He turns to look at his father, who is standing there, looking at him. 

“Did you know anything about this?” Yasir asks. 

“What? Their trip?” Zayn asks and Yasir nods. “No.” Zayn continues. 

“So they never mentioned anything?” 

“Well, they say they might come visit. They didn’t say when.” 

Yasir nods again. “Well, do me a favor while they’re here. You know how you usually behave?” 

“Distant and miserable?” 

“Yeah. Do the opposite.” 

**

“Need help?” Zayn offers as soon as he spots Niall with a big bag coming out from the school bus. 

Niall smiles slightly and shakes his head. “I’m okay, thanks.” 

“Breaking your back or cause you just don’t want talk to me?” Zayn asks bluntly as he falls into steps beside Niall as they walk towards the school’s entrance. “Cause you know, I can respect both reasons.” 

“Why wouldn’t I want to talk with you, Zayn?” Niall asks. 

Zayn shrugs. “I don’t know. The whole mine thing?” 

Niall glances at Zayn and smiles again. “That was an accident. Let’s just forget about it, okay?” Niall says and continues. “The bag isn’t that heavy anyway. It’s just the clothes and stuff for the weekend.” Niall explains, changing the topic. “I’m going straight to the hospital after school today.” 

“You’re staying over at the hospital?” 

“I’m pretty much gonna be there every weekend till Liam comes home.” Niall says and turns to look at Zayn. “He really needs me right now.” 

Zayn looks away for a second and sighs internally. “So I guess you’re not going to that party tomorrow night.” Zayn says, avoiding the topic about Liam. 

“No can do.” Niall replies. 

“That’s too bad. It should be pretty cool. I’ve never partied in a canyon before. Us Londoners, we’re more basement people.” 

“Hey, just because I’m not going doesn’t mean you can’t.” Niall says. 

Zayn shrugs again. “I know that.” He just doesn’t want to go alone, that’s all. But he can’t say that to Niall, right? 

The bell rings, and Niall waves Zayn off as he heads towards the other direction. “I gotta go. See you later.” 

Zayn watches as Niall leaves and shakes his head. What would he do with this feeling? 

**

“And this is the diner.” Harry says as soon as he steps into the small restaurant. “We eat here, a lot.” He continues as he looks at his grandmother. 

Ruth laughs. “What does that mean ‘a lot’? Doesn’t your father cook a meal once in a while?” 

“Only if he’s feeling cruel.” Harry turns to look at the voice that suddenly joins their conversation and his face lights up. “Maggie!” He exclaims excitedly and hugs the lady.

Harry then turns to look at his grandmother and starts to explain. “This is Maggie Horan. She works for my dad. We hang a lot here.” 

Ruth feels something tug inside her heart as she looks at the warmness that surrounds the lady in front of her and Harry. She is about to say something when suddenly Maggie speaks up. 

“You must be Harry’s great-grandmother. Nice to meet you.” Maggie says and extends her hand for a shake. 

Harry rolls his eyes and shifts to move beside his grandmother again. “This is Nonnie. She’s visiting from London.

Ruth smiles and returns the handshake that was offered by Maggie. “A pleasure.” 

Maggie looks at Harry and smiles. “I guess we’ll have to postpone Operation Pickup at the moment.” 

Harry shakes his head. “Nonnie can do it for us.” He says. 

Ruth looks at her grandchild confusingly. “Do what with you, honey?” She asks. 

“I was gonna show him how to change a tire, see how engine works but I’d doubt you like that.” Maggie says. 

“Why, you know me so well already?” Ruth replies. 

“Call it a hunch.” 

Ruth shakes her head and looks at Maggie. “When were you planning on having this little tire seminar?” 

“Tomorrow afternoon, 1300 hours.” 

Ruth nods and grabs Harry’s hand in hers, starting to lead him out of the diner. “We’ll be there. 1.00 o’clock.” She tells Maggie. 

**

Yasir enters the house to the sound of piano and raises his eyebrows. And as he walks to the living room, he finally sees it. Jacob is singing while Zayn is playing the piano. Yasir smiles and watches the scene until the song is over. 

“Somewhere, Sinatra is smiling.” Ysair comments as soon as Jacob finishes with his own way of singing My Way by Frank Sinatra. 

“Oh, look who’s home.” Jacob says and looks at his watch. “8.00 o’clock?” 

“Well, I stopped to get pizza.” Yasir explains. 

Zayn looks at his father and shrugs. “We already ate.” 

“Oh, it’s okay, then.” Yasir says and walks towards the piano. “That sounded good, Zayn.” 

“Oh, not good. A boy who hasn’t taken lessons in months, that sounded great.” Jacob says. 

“We’re still looking for the right teacher.” 

“News to me.” Zayn says sarcastically. 

“If Zayn wants to find one, he knows he can ask me.” 

“Some things he shouldn’t have to ask, a parent should just do.” Jacob says as he looks at Yasir. 

**

“Beware. It cooks.” Zayn says as he enters the kitchen to the sight of his father making waffles and his grandfather is standing nearby. 

“Sit down, kiddo. I’m making your favorite.” Yasir says as he puts the plate in front of Zayn. 

“Burnt waffles.” 

“Not that burnt so eat up. You gotta save all your strength today for the father-son fly test.” 

“Father son fly-fest? What is this? Some kind of rock concert?” Jacob asks, not amusing. 

Yasir shakes his head. “No. It’s a fishing competition over at the river. I know how much you like to fish so I thought we’d check it out. Three generations of fathers and sons. What do you think?” 

Zayn swallows his waffles forcefully before he replies to his father. “I think the fumes in here have done permanent damage to your brain.” He deadpans. 

“Hey, don’t talk to your father like that.” Jacob says to Zayn and Zayn nods, “Sorry.” 

Jacob turns to look at Yasir and shrugs. “You know maybe it’ll be fun.” He then turns to look at Zayn. “Hey hell, let’s do it.” 

“That’s okay. If he doesn’t want to go..” Yasir says. 

“Wait a minute, Yasir.” Jacob says and leans down closer to speak to Zayn. “Hey, Zayn, will you do it for me? Huh, champ? I mean it’ll be great. And if we don’t like it, we’ll leave.” 

Zayn takes a few seconds before he nods finally. “Okay. But only if you promise to get breakfast on the way.” 

Jacob laughs. “Deal. Okay, we leave in 20 minutes.” He says as he points at Yasir. He turns away and Zayn follows his grandfather out of the kitchen. Yasir sighs. Why must Zayn be so stubborn with him? 

**

Niall rubs his eyes tiredly and stretches on the couch. He looks at his watch and jumps slightly when someone calls his name. “Morning, Mrs. Payne.” Niall greets and smiles at Liam’s mum. 

“You’re here early.” Mrs. Payne says. 

“Oh, I slept here. It’s easier and it saves me on all the bus fares.” Niall explains. “Guess what I brought? Remember we were talking about last year’s Christmas dinner?” He says as he pulls out a tape from his bag. 

“I think so.” 

“I found it but Liam’s room doesn’t have a VCR so I thought we could just ask the nurses.” 

“I don’t think we should bother them with that right now.”

Niall shakes his head. “I don’t think it would bother them. I think it would really help.” 

“Help what?” 

“Help him remember his life..everyone..” Niall trails off. 

Mrs. Payne sighs and looks at Niall again. “He will remember, Niall. In time, he will.” She says. “Sweetie, I know you mean well but right now the pressure you’re putting on Liam and yourself, it’s too much.”

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, he’s making fantastic progress. He’s speaking again and he can sit himself up. The doctors are optimistic about his memory returning but this takes time.”

“I know, but I don’t think we should stop pushing.” Niall says. 

“We won’t. But you have to.” Mrs. Payne says and pauses. “You’re making it worse, Niall.” 

Niall feels his heart drops as soon as the words left Mrs. Payne’s lips. “How?” He asks shakily. 

“Your expectations. It’s a strain on all of us, especially Liam.” 

Niall blinks his tears back and looks away, refuses to look at Mrs. Payne’s eyes because damn it, it hurts. “Go home.” He hears Mrs. Payne says to him. “Take a break. Get your life back. We’re not going anywhere.” She continues. Niall tries to protest but Mrs. Payne cut him off. “I’m not asking you, Niall.” She finishes before she turns away and leaves. Niall watches her leaves and stands up shakily from the couch. With a heavy heart, he packs all the things and starts to leave too. 

**

“So then when you finish tightening up the lug nuts, then you put the hubcap back on.” Maggie explains as Harry listens with a peak of interest. 

“Can I go under with your slidey thing?” Harry asks as he looks at Maggie. 

“Sure.” Maggie replies at the same time when Ruth says, “no!” 

“What does he have to see under it? I thought you were changing it.” Ruth says to Maggie. 

“He wants an overview of how the machine works. What’s wrong with that?” 

“It could fall on his head, that’s what.” 

“I’ll be careful.” Harry assures as he starts to slide under the car. He knows why his grandmother is freak out over all the things. In London, they were thought to act posh because that’s what they were but somehow in Mullingar, Harry gets the sense of adventure and it all because of Maggie. He even learnt on how to ride a bike but no, he won’t tell his grandmother about that, yet. 

“Why does my grandson need to know how to change a tire?”

Maggie raises her eyebrows. “In case he gets a flat so he’s not stranded on the highway somewhere.”

“That’s why God invented tow service.” Ruth says. 

“Why should he be dependent on other people for what he can do himself?”

“What’s wrong with asking for help?” 

Harry sighs under the car. Why couldn’t his Nonnie and Maggie get along? 

**

“This place is amazing! I can’t imagine why your father never brought you before.” Jacob exclaims as he looks at his surroundings. 

“Yeah, well, fishing’s not really our thing.” Zayn says and shrugs. 

“Not even the new Yasir? The furry-waffle-making Yasir?” 

Zayn laughs and shakes his head at his grandfather. “hey ya, Frenkazoid. I didn’t know you did sunlight.” Zayn turns his head to look at the owner of the voice. Louis, of course. 

“I didn’t know you moonlighted as a condom.” Zayn retorts. 

“You’re headed to the fly fest? Your father doesn’t seem the type.” Zayn turns to look at the voice of Dr. Bobby Horan who is coming behind Louis. 

“This is my grandpa. Grandpa, this is Dr. Horan.” Zayn says and points at Bobby. “He’s the other doctor in town.” 

“He means the sane one.” Bobby says and shakes Jacob’s hand. 

“It’s a pleasure.” Jacob replies and points at Louis. “And this?” 

“My son, Louis.” Bobby replies and Louis shakes Jacob’s hand too, surprisingly polite and Zayn scoffs. 

“So, all the best gentlemen. Time to go kick some serious fish butt.” Bobby says and starts to head towards the other side of the river. 

“He’s a funny guy.” Jacob says as soon as both Bobby and Louis leave them alone. 

“He thinks so. But whole family is not that bad though.” Zayn says. 

“Really?” 

“There’s a youngest son.” 

Jacob laughs and looks at Zayn. “I knew it. I was waiting for you to let me in on some dirt.” He says and continues. “What’s his name?” 

“Niall.” Zayn replies and smiles dreamily. “But things are a little awkward right now.” 

“How come?” 

Zayn shrugs. “I kind of kissed him the other day.” 

“Good for you.” Jacob says and pats Zayn’s shoulder proudly. 

“He has a boyfriend.” 

Jacob rolls his eyes. “Who do you think you are, Russell Crowe?” He says and Zayn laughs out loud before both of them continue to fish. 

**

“Hey, I gotta talk to you about something.” Louis says as he moves closer to Zayn. 

“Oh, you got the results back from your IQ test? You failed?” Zayn replies sarcastically. 

Louis ignores Zayn’s sarcasm and looks at Zayn. “It’s about Niall. You gotta come to Sean’s party tonight.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Forget about it, alright? I already know he’s not gonna be there.” 

“You don’t know anything. He’s on his way back from the hospital right now.” Louis explains. “Liam’s folks don’t want him hanging out there and he’s like completely depressed.” 

“What do you mean?” Zayn asks, giving his full attention to Louis finally. “Why don’t they want him there?” 

“He’s stressing everybody out.” Louis replies. “Liam doesn’t even remember who anyone is anyways.”

“What do you mean he doesn’t remember?” 

“What? Are you my echo or something?” Louis snaps. Why does Zayn seems like he knows nothing at all about Liam’s condition? “Look, all I know it’s bad so I’m taking him to the party tonight and you’re gonna be there to cheer him up.” 

Zayn shakes his head disbelivingly. “Why would me being there cheer him up?” 

“Believe me, I don’t get it any more than you do. For some reason, it seems like you’re the only one that can make my brother smiles again.” 

If Zayn is surprised by this caring side of Louis, he doesn’t show it and just stares at the river blankly. “How you even know he’ll come?” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll get him there. You just show up on time.” Louis says. 

**

“I’m gonna take us to a dinner that you will never forget.” Yasir announces as soon as Zayn and Jacob finished with their tales during the fly fest. 

“I can’t go. I got a party.” Zayn says. 

“Your grandfather’s only in town for a while. You can miss one party, Zayn.” Yasir says sternly. 

Zayn shakes his head and looks at his grandfather for help. “Actually I can’t.” 

“Yasir.” Jacob calls, trying to interfere. 

“I’ll handle this, Jacob.” Yasir says, oblivious to what Jacob had signed to him. He turns to look at his son. “I’m gonna make this very simple for you. You’re not going. So you can either sit in your room or you can come with your grandfather and I to dinner. Your choice.” 

Zayn glares at his father and scoffs angrily. He then stomps towards his bedroom and slamming the door loudly. 

Jacob shakes his head. “You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” He asks his son-in-law. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You ground him for wanting to go to a party on Saturday night but you let him quit studying the piano. That’s not right.” 

“I’m not gonna force him to play.” 

“Why not? He’s not doing anything around here. He has no friends, he has no life and you’re just gonna sit back and watch because you don’t wanna force him? What kind of parenting is that?”

Yasir turns to look at Jacob. “Look, I didn’t ask for your critism, Jacob and I happen to be doing the best I can.” 

Jacob shakes his head. “That’s not good enough.” 

“That’s a hell of an assumption after 24 hours.” 

“Hey, don’t play offended with me. You never took an interest in him and it’s finally catching up with you. Thank God my daughter’s not alive..”

“No, she’s not alive and it hasn’t been particularly easy in her absence so I would appreciate just a little bit understanding from you particularly since you are a guest in my house.”

“You know, you’re right. This hasn’t been easy on any of us but I’ll be damned if I’ll let you undo everything my daughter did for her children.” 

**

“We’re gonna take a 10-minute intermission, everybody. Don’t go nowhere.” The host says and Harry lets out breathe of relief. He is now sitting beside his grandmother and Maggie is in front of him, at the Mullingar’s favorite diner, to listen to ‘Poetry Night.’ He swears he could die from the boredom but his grandmother doesn’t think so. In fact, his grandmother was the one who insisted that they would go to this so called ‘Poetry Night’ because she wants Harry to feel like they’re in London where they uses to go to opera together and all. 

“So, this is Mullingar’s cultural epicenter?” Ruth asks, looking at Maggie. 

“The local video store carries Run Lola Run.” Maggie replies and Harry chuckles at that answer. 

Harry fiddles with the button on his blazer when suddenly his grandmother swats his hand. “Stop fussing with them.” 

“It’s hot.” Harry whines and he doesn’t seem to think that it’s cool to wear blazer at the town. Nobody does that and Harry outgrown the posh dressed-up after he moved here. 

“Why don’t you just take it off?” Maggie asks. 

“Because he’s from London where men dressed smartly.” Ruth replies. 

Harry rolls his eyes and starts to whine again. “I’m really sweaty.” 

His grandmother seems to ignore his whining and starts to change the topic to the lists of performers in front of her. “How many more people are there?” Harry asks, tiredly. 

“What’s the matter? You don’t like the show?” Ruth asks, looking at Harry. Harry sighs. He doesn’t want to hurt his grandmother’s feeling but seriously, poetry is not his best interest. 

“It might be over his head.” Maggie intervenes and Harry is so grateful. 

Ruth turns to look at Maggie. “My grandson enjoyed The Nutcracker at Radio City and Carmen at the Met when we were at New York for vacation. He can stay awake while the town’s best spellers recite atop a deep fryer.”

Maggie refuses to be intimidated by the city lady in front of her and starts to reply. “That may be, but it’s not gonna get any better.” 

“It’s impolite to leave the theater before the performance is over.” 

“We’re not in the theater. I’m sitting on an onion ring.” Maggie retorts and Harry has to stifle his laugh at that one. 

“It’s a question of manners which I am trying to teach my grandson.” Ruth stubbornly says. 

Maggie rolls his eyes. “The kid is full of manners. He says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and don’t burp in public, what else he needs to know?” 

“You may not see the need to close your mouth while you chew but the Hoffmans have higher standards.” 

Harry shakes his head and finally decides to intervene before an ugly argument over manners start. “Can I have a sundae now?” He asks, startling both of the old women.

**

Zayn blast out the music in his room up to the maximum volume and lock his door. He then grabs his jacket, opens up his window and looks down to the ground. “It’s not that high.” He says to himself. He then climbs out from the window and carefully stands on the roof. “Can’t believe I’m gonna kill myself for a kegger.” He says again before he hangs on the roof and jumps down to the ground. Once he lands on the ground, he quickly jogs away from his house to avoid at being caught. 

Once Zayn arrives at the party, he is quite lost because for a moment, he doesn’t see anyone that he knows. It takes him a few minutes before he finally spots on the blonde-haired boy and he moves closer towards him. “This hood taken?” He asks, gesturing to the car that Niall is sitting on. 

Niall turns his head to look at Zayn and smiles. “Hey.” 

Zayn return the smiles and climb on the hood before he sits beside Niall. “I swear I saw an actual coyote waiting in the line for keg.” Zayn jokes, making Niall chuckles. 

“I thought you couldn’t make it.” Niall says as he raises his eyebrows, looking at Zayn. 

Zayn shrugs. “I was gonna say the same to you.” 

“Yeah well, my brother practically forced me into the car, so I didn’t have much choice.” Niall says. 

“Well, you look nice for someone forcibly removed from home.” 

Niall laughs and shakes his head, cursing himself internally as he feels his cheeks are hot after Zayn’s compliment. “Thank you.” 

“Tequila, anyone?” Someone offers and both of them turn to look at a guy that Zayn doesn’t know but Niall seems to know him. “I can show you how to do a body shot, Niall.” The guy says and Niall rolls his eyes. “I’ll pass.” Niall replies. 

“New dude?” The guys asks, looking at Zayn as he raises his bottle. Zayn shakes his head. “I’m cool.” The guy waves them off and leaves them alone. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t want that guy licking your neck.” Zayn says after the guy leaves. Niall laughs and punch Zayn’s shoulder lightly. “You must be seriously depressed.” Zayn continues. 

They both fall into comfortable silence as they watch people around them before Zayn starts to speak again. “So, how are you? Really.”

“I’m great.” Niall replies and smiles at Zayn. 

“Good. Because you know, I heard Li…you know, he’s not doing well.” Zayn trails off. 

“Actually, he’s doing amazing.” Niall lies. 

“Well, because I mean it can take a long time to fully recuperate especially from a head trauma like this.” Zayn rambles. 

“And how would you know Zayn? Have you ever known anybody in a coma before?” Niall snaps. 

Zayn shakes his head and ignores Niall’s snappy tone. He is just trying to help Niall to deal with Liam’s condition, that’s all. “No. I asked my dad. I know progress can be slow sometimes it’s even harder on the person who is waiting..”

“Why are you telling me this, Zayn? I didn’t ask you to.” Niall snaps again. 

“No, I just..I see you so stressed out all the time. I just wanna help.” Zayn explains. 

Niall shakes his head. “You can’t.” 

“Look, I’m sure you’re fine Niall, okay? But I just think maybe you should take a break. Wait till he’s back to school. Try and move on a little bit.” 

“You know what, Zayn?” Niall says as he turns to look at Zayn seriously. “Maybe _you_ should move on.” Niall says and climb off the hood, leaving Zayn alone. 

Zayn watches as Niall leaves and sighs. “Hey, hook me up.” Zayn calls out the earlier guy with the tequila. To hell with what Niall had said to him. It’s fucking unfair. 

**

“Thank you. And thanks everybody for coming. Don’t forget, Thursday night is interpretive dance. Please wear deodorant.” The host says and closes the night. 

Maggie is about to clap when Ruth stops her and points at Harry. Her grandson is finally sleeping with his head is buried into his arms. 

Maggie smiles fondly at the sight and looks at Ruth. “When did we lose him?” 

“I think somewhere around that nervous woman’s fifth haiku.” Ruth replies. She then looks at the sleeping kid beside her. Somehow, Harry seems to grow up too quickly these past few months. 

“Isn’t he an angel?” Ruth asks softly.

“That he is.” Maggie replies.

Ruth nods and smiles sadly. “He looks so much like my Julia. Such soft features. And the dimples.” 

“Your daughter was a beautiful woman.” Maggie compliments and when Ruth looks at her confusingly, Maggie explains that Dr. Malik keeps a photograph on his desk. 

“I’m afraid that he’ll forget about his mother. What a wonder mother he had.” Ruth admits suddenly. 

Maggie smiles. “You’ll remind her.” 

“I can’t. I’m not here.” Ruth says. “He’s only been here a few months and already…he’s growing up so fast. I don’t know what he likes anymore. What to buy him. Sometimes he can be fiercely independent.” 

Maggie chuckles. “Tell me about it.” 

“You’ll tell me about it.” Ruth says. “He likes you. You have a lot in common. It’s good.” She continues as she looks at Maggie. 

Maggie is slightly taken aback by the words but smiles nonetheless.. “You know, something tells me, he’s not gonna forget you, Nonnie. She has your chin, you know.”

“I never noticed that before.” Ruth says as she pats Harry’s hair softly. “He does.”

**

Zayn feels his world is spinning as he wanders around at the party. “Excuse me? You see a Porta-Potty?” He asks someone, he doesn’t know who because somehow everyone looks the same at the moment. When people stare at him weirdly, Zayn waves them off. “Never mind.” He says and starts to wander alone again. 

“Dude, I gotta pee.” Zayn asks someone random again. 

“Dude, use the bushes.” That someone says and Zayn chuckles. “Bushes. Okay.” He says and walks drunkenly to the bushes. 

“Hello, Mr. Bush, you’re so nice and green. I am your sprinkler.” Zayn says as soon as he reaches the nearest bushes. He closes his eyes and suddenly feeling so sober when a flashlight is pointing at him and someone introduces himself as a cop. “Shit.” Zayn curses. 

**

“Coming. Coming.” Yasir shouts at the non-stop knocks on his door. When he opens his door, he swears his eyes bulge open. There is a cop with Zayn, standing beside him. 

“Is this your son?” The cop asks. 

“Can’t be. My son is safely tucked into his bed upstairs.” Yasir replies as he looks at Zayn who is apparently drunk. 

“He’s not Zayn Malik?” The cop asks again. 

“Depends. What did he do?” 

“Public intoxication and underage drinking. He’s never been a problem before so we didn’t take him in. If we..”

“You catch him again, you better keep him.” Yasir says. “Thank you officer.” He continues and the cop turns to leave. Yasir let Zayn steps into the house before he slams the door close. 

Zayn ignores him and starts to walk towards the stairs. “You gotta be kidding me.” Yasir says as he crosses his arms. 

Zayn shakes his head. “Really want to do this right now?” 

“Oh yeah, I think so. What the hell’s going on? Are you drunk?”

“Not enough, but we can fix that.” Zayn says and turns to look at his father. “Toss me a Heineken.” Zayn says and smiles, or he thinks he smiles because everything is a bit fuzzy. 

“You think this is funny? It’s bad enough that you drank, you don’t think that we’re gonna talk about that but you had to pick this weekend to turn into a teenager? You haven’t been to a party since we got here and all of sudden you’re getting plastered and arrested? If you wanna embarrass me in front of your grandparents, you’ve done one hell of a job.” 

Zayn scoffs. “That’s exactly right. That’s what this is about. This is all about you. I got arrested just so you could feel bad about yourself.” 

“You know damn well that’s not what I meant!” 

“’Hey,look at me. I’m Superdad. Let’s fish and make waffles’” Zayn mocks sarcastically. “I got news for you. They’re not buying it but don’t worry. You can raise my allowance and I promise I’ll give you a hug. Right in front of Grandpa.”

Yasir shakes his head. “All right, listen. I’m not gonna talk to you when you’re like this. You’re going upstairs and go to bed. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” 

“Okay. You know, maybe I should drink more often because not talking to me, that’s the best idea you’ve ever had. Ever.” Zayn says before he stomps his way towards his bedroom upstairs. 

**

Zayn closes his eyes as he lets the ice cool down his head. “What else is there?” Zayn opens his eyes at his grandfather’s question. He then looks at the shopping list in his hands. “Is it possible she really wants four cartons of eggs?” Zayn asks, referring to his grandmother’s handwriting. 

“We don’t question the list. We just do its bidding.” Jacob replies to his grandson. He chuckles when he looks at the miserable face of Zayn because of the hangover. “I think we’d better get you some aspirin. Come on.” 

“Or a new head. That’s be good.” Zayn says. 

“You know what you did last night was pretty stupid. You know that?”

“He was being unreasonable. You saw.” 

Jacob nods. “Yeah, I’m not arguing that. But, sneaking out of the house? Getting drunk? That’s childish. You’re not a child.” 

Zayn shrugs. “He treats me like one.” 

“Well, don’t let him. When I was a kid, we had no money, my family. I had to work every day after school just to put food on the table. Now that makes you grow up pretty fast. By the time I was 16, I was considered a man by my mother and father and that was one of the greatest gifts they ever gave to me. Know what I found out?” 

“What?” 

“Getting what you want is easy. Knowing what you want, that’s the challenge. That’s what separates the men from the boys. You understand?” Jacob asks. 

“No, not really.” Zayn admits. 

Jacob smiles and looks at his grandson again. “Let me try it this way. What do _you_ want, Zayn? I don’t mean just permission to go to a party. I mean for your life. Right now what do you want? What do you wish for?” 

“I don’t know.” Zayn replies, caught off guard by the question. Frankly, he himself doesn’t know what he really wants at the moment. 

“Well, figure it out. Then, make it happen.” Jacob says and smiles at Zayn before he pushes the trolley to the next aisle at the grocery store and Zayn trails after him. 

Jacob’s trolley bumps into another trolley and a boy apologizes. “I’m sorry.” The boy says and Jacob smiles. “I’m sorry. I apologize.” Zayn who is behind his grandfather, looks at the person that they bumped into. 

“Zayn.” Niall greets as soon as he sees Zayn. “Is this your grandfather?” He asks. 

Zayn looks at Niall and nods. “Yeah. Grandpa, this is Niall Horan.” Zayn introduces. 

“Niall Horan.” Jacob says and extends his hand to shake Niall’s. “Nice to meet you.” 

Niall smiles politely. “Nice to meet you too.” 

Jacob looks at Zayn and grabs the paper from his grandson’s hand, smiling at him knowingly. “Give me this. I’ll go get you some aspirin.” He says before he turns and leaves Zayn with Niall. 

Niall watches as Zayn’s grandfather leaves before he looks at Zayn. “So, I heard the cops busted up the party last night.” Niall starts the conversation. 

“Yeah.” Zayn replies shortly. 

“How long you were there?” 

“Long enough to move on.” Zayn snaps angrily before he turns to walk away from Niall. Because honestly, does Niall thinks that he can be friendly with him again after what happened the night before? 

**

Harry enters the kitchen and spots his grandmother. “What are you making?” He asks. 

“Well, if you want the good French toast, I’m gonna have to make the challah from the scratch. Your grandfather can’t seem to find a good bakery anywhere. Go figure.”

Harry nods as his grandmother talks and looks at the dough on the plate. “Can I help?” He asks, offering himself to bake with his grandmother. Frankly, he likes baking. 

Ruth looks at his grandson surprisingly. “I thought you were gonna finish doing the tires with Maggie today.”

Harry shakes his head and stars to put on his apron. “I can do that anytime. I’d rather stay home with you.” He says, throwing his charming smile to his grandmother. 

Ruth feels her heart burst with happiness at his grandson’s behavior. Yes, he is indeed a charmer. She nods and gesturing to Harry to sit next to her and both of them starts to roll the dough together. 

**

“Hey, what’s going on?” Yasir asks as soon as he spots Zayn and Jacob at the living room. 

“We’re just talking.” Jacob replies and Zayn avoids his father’s stare. 

“What about?” 

“About London.” Jacob says. “About Zayn coming to live there with us.” He continues. 

Yasir stares at both people in front of him. “Who brought this up?” 

“I did.” Zayn replies. 

Yasir walks closer towards them. “I see.” 

Jacob looks at his grandson. “Zayn, give us a minute alone, will you? It’ll be all right.” Zayn nods silently and stands up from the couch, walking passed through his father and leaves the room. 

Yasir waits until Zayn is out of sight before he sits in front of Jacob. “What are you doing?” 

“This isn’t me.” Jacob says. 

“Like hell it isn’t. You think you decided something here? You think you just going to take my son away from me?”

“Hold it, hold it, hold it.” Jacob says. “We haven’t made any decision. We’re just talking.” 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Yasir says as he shakes his head. 

“He’s not doing well, Yasir. Not here, not with you and you know it too.” 

“Oh, you think he’ll do better away from his family? Is that what you think?” Yasir snaps. 

“Hey, I’m his family. He spent more time with me in the last 15 years than he has with you.” Jacob says. “You think a couple of months in the mountains make up for missing most of his life?” Jacob points out. “It doesn’t.”

When Yasir keeps silent, Jacob starts to speak again. “You and I are surgeons, Yasir, right? We know how it’s done. You locate the problem. You go in. You excise it. You move on. What you don’t’ do is ignore it and pretend it’ll go away..”

“I’m not ignoring it.” Yasir cuts off. ‘Look, we are doing better now. We are working things out. You have no idea how hard this kid has been.” 

Jacob nods. “I know. I know. I’ve been watching you. I see you’re trying and I appreciate it more than you’ll ever believe but it’s too big. Even for you, Yasir.” Jacob says before he continues. “Now it’s an easy fix. What’s more it’s what he wants. You know the other day, he was talking to me about the boy that he likes. It wasn’t much but we talked for about an hour. But he was laughing. He was laughing. I haven’t seen him laugh since we got here.” Jacob says and pauses. “Yasir, I get him. And he gets me. Just think about it, yeah?” Jacob says before he stands up and pats on Yasir’s shoulder, and leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reviews and readings. It really motivates me for writing more :)


	10. Father and son

“I had an epiphany this morning Harry that Pop-Tarts are just square cookies. So today, I am making eggs.” Yasir announces and closes the fridge’s door only to find Zayn behind him. 

“Morning.” Yasir greets. 

“Hey.” Zayn replies shortly. 

“You hungry?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No.”

There is an uncomfortable silence for few seconds before Jacob calls for Zayn. Zayn turns and finds his grandfather with a phone in his hand. “I just got off the phone with your old pal, Mr. Zeigler.”

“I wouldn’t call my headmaster much of an old pal.” Zayn says as he put on his glass on the table and pours the orange juice. 

“Well, he is today.” Jacob says. “He said the school will be thrilled to have you back.” He continues. “That is if you decide to go. You could start as early as winter term.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “That’s in three weeks.” Zayn points out. 

“Well, we’ll go back a little earlier. Gives you time to get yourself together.” Jacob says. “Oh, I forgot the most important thing. He said that given the circumstances, they’ll overlook your grades.” 

“That doesn’t mean you don’t have to go to school today.” Yasir suddenly pipes in after he heard all of the conversations. 

Zayn shakes his head at his father and leave the kitchen to get ready for the school and Jacob watches as Yasir keeps his back towards him. Once Zayn leaves, Yasir turns and face Jacob.

“Outstanding, Jacob, really. The only problem is, I haven’t said he could go yet.” 

“No one said you did. But if he is going, things have to be ready. You can’t just pick up and move a kid.” Jacob replies, referring to Yasir’s action to move to Mullingar from London couple of months ago. 

“You don’t just ignore his father either.” Yasir replies. “I said I’d think about it.”

“If you wanna think about it, go ahead and think about it. But you can’t expect me to keep my hands in my pockets while you do.” Jacob says before he turns and leaves Yasir with a thought to ponder. 

**

“Why is Maggie scaring everyone?” Harry asks as he turns to face Irv after Maggie leaves the diner. He doesn’t understand why everyone is avoiding Maggie’s glare and why Maggie is glaring at the first place anyway? 

“Because that’s what she does.” Irv replies. He knows his wife too well. 

Harry shakes his head. “Not this much.” 

Irv sighs. “Saturday’s her birthday.” 

Harry’s eyes sparkle immediately. He loves birthdays! “What are you doing for her?” He asks excitedly. 

“Nothing.” Irv replies shortly. 

“Nothing?” Harry asks surprisingly. “Why not?” 

“Because I am a very smart man.” 

Harry crosses his arms over his chest. “You don’t wanna throw her a party?” 

Irv shakes his head. “No, I do not.” 

Harry blinks his eyes. He got an idea! “Do you want someone else to?” He asks eagerly. 

Irv laughs. “I’d like to see them try.” He says before he stands up, ruffling Harry’s hair, leaving Harry alone at the booth. 

“This local paper here is just absolutely addictive.” Ruth says as soon as she sits beside Harry at the booth. “I can’t even finish breakfast anymore without reading the police blotter.” 

Harry ignores his grandmother’s rambling and starts to speak up. “Maggie’s birthday’s soon and no one’s having a party.” He says. 

Ruth raises her eyebrows. “Well, that’s not right.” She says. “We could do it.” 

Harry’s eyes go wide at his grandmother’s suggestion. “Really?” He asks excitedly. He loves Maggie and he wants to see everyone celebrates Maggie’s birthday. 

“I don’t see why not. I could teach you all my secrets.” Ruth says. 

“But Mr. Irv sounded like Maggie wouldn’t want a party.” Harry points out. 

“The Lupus Foundation didn’t want a party either. Now they’re bigger than ever thanks to me.” Ruth says. 

Harry smiles widely and nods. “Let’s do it!” 

**

“You on fire or something?” Nina asks as soon as she opens the door, only to find her neighbor standing in front of it. 

“No such luck.” Yasir says. “Can I bum a cigarette?” 

“You don’t smoke.” Nina points out. 

“I do sometimes.” 

Nina raises her eyebrows. “When?” 

Yasir shrugs. “When I need to.” 

Nina closes the door and goes outside to her porch. “You know it’s not fair. You only know I have one a week because you’re my doctor and now you are taking advantage.” Nina says as she walks towards the unused bird cage at her porch and pulls out a pack of cigarette. 

“Julia hated these.” Yasir says as he finally gets a cigarette from Nina. “And now I feel even guiltier when I sneak one.” 

“So, you wanna spill it, or do I have to get rough?” Nina asks as soon as Yasir sits on the chair at the porch. 

“Zayn’s getting ready to leave.”

Nina nods. “Ah, I see.” 

“I haven’t said yes or no yet.” Yasir continues. “And they’re acting like my opinion doesn’t mean a damn thing.” 

“Well it doesn’t mean until you give it.” Nina says. 

“I can’t.” 

“I don’t normally think of you as someone who keeps his mouth shut.” Nina says bluntly. 

Yasir shakes his head. “I haven’t said anything because I’m trying to do the right thing and I don’t know what that is yet.” 

“So, what does that matter?” Nina asks. 

“Well, I wanna be sure.” 

Nina shakes her head and smiles. “Yasir, I can tell you as a parent that I have never once felt sure about anything. Schools, haircuts, breakfast. Still can’t believe the hospital ever let me take Sam home.” Nina says. “Do what you want.” She continues. 

“I’m trying to think less about what I want. Doing what I wanted is what brought him here at the first place.” Yasir says.

“Doing what you want may have been a mistake?” 

Yasir nods. “Maybe.” 

“You know, you could talk to your father-in-law.” Nina suggests. 

“I don’t think that’d be a very good idea.” 

“Why?” 

Yasir shrugs. “Because if I get in the same room with him again, I’ll probably kill him.” 

**

“Maggie! Mr. Irv!” Harry calls out and jogs towards the both of them. He pulls out a card and hands it to Maggie. “You are both cordially invited to commemorate the day of your birth with festivity and friends.” Harry announces excitedly. He looks at Mr. Irv and smiles widely. “”We’re throwing Maggie a birthday party. It’s gonna be great!” Harry doesn’t even really notice the change of Maggie’s face when he continues talking. “I already told everybody!” 

Irv looks at the oblivious kid in front of him and tries to save him from his wife’s wrath. “We’d be delighted, wouldn’t we?” Irv says as he looks at Maggie. “Use your words, Maggie.”

“Thank you.” Maggie replies shortly. 

Harry nods and grins again. “Great! See you later!” Harry waves them off. “And don’t forget, it’s formal.” 

**

“Mind if I watch Spongebob?” Louis asks as soon as he enters the living room and finds Niall on the couch, reading a book. 

“’Yes, I mind. I’m studying. Besides, I’m still mad at you.’” Louis mocks when Niall doesn’t reply and only rolls his eyes at him. Louis then go to the couch and lifts Niall’s leg. 

Niall remains silence and Louis continues to mock him. “’Still?’” “’Yes, it’s going to last forever and ever because my name is Niall. I never do anything wrong and I’ve got perfect skin.’” 

Niall shifts his body and gives his back to Louis, totally ignoring his brother. Louis shakes his head at Niall’s stubbornness and chooses to watch Spongebob instead. 

“We all certainly be there.” Suddenly Bobby says as ends the phone conversation and enters the living room. 

“Be where?” Niall asks his father. 

“The Malik’s house.” Bobby says. 

Louis suddenly snaps his head and forgets about Spongebob. “You’re willingly going there?”

Bobby laughs. “Yeah, I am when they’re throwing my mother a birthday party.” 

Louis gasps in surprise. “Don’t they know?” 

Bobby chuckles again and shakes his head. “Evidently not. Oh, this will be priceless. Where is my camera?” 

“Yeah, take a lot of pictures. I’m not going. She’s bad enough when it’s not her birthday.” Louis says. He knows he is not her favorite grandson. 

“If he doesn’t have to go, I don’t have to go too.” Niall suddenly pipes in. He doesn’t want to see any of Malik’s at the moment. 

Bobby ignores his sons. “We’ll need a gift.” 

“I’m already sick to my stomach.” Louis whines. 

“Why don’t we just call and wish and then it will be fine?” Niall whines too. 

“Children, please.” Bobby says, stopping both of his sons from whining. “Now like it or not, that woman is direct kin and we are not going to miss out on her abject misery..as a family.” He says. “So, Louis, just do what you can to stay out of her way.” Bobby says as he looks at Louis. “And you.” He then looks at Niall. “You adore your grandmother.” 

“It’s not her. I just don’t know how I feel about going to the Malik’s house.” Niall explains. 

“I thought you were friends with the son, the one with tuberculosis.” 

Niall shakes his head. “Not recently.” 

Bobby raises his eyebrows and smiles. “Excellent. I’ll start dinner.”

**

Zayn paces back and forth with a phone in his hand. He is still thinking when suddenly his grandmother calls out for him. “Oh, you on the phone?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No. No. Just trying to decide if I should tell anyone that I might be moving.” 

“Like Harry?” Ruth asks. 

“Among others.” Zayn replies guiltily. Frankly speaking, he doesn’t want to leave Harry with his father. 

Ruth steps closer towards his grandson. “He’s a smart boy. He’ll understand.” 

“Think so?” 

“Maybe your father can help you to talk to him.” Ruth suggests. 

“Yeah, he and I didn’t plan this out together.” Zayn admits. “We’re not exactly talking.” 

“Maybe you should.” Ruth says softly. 

Zayn shakes his head. “He seemed pretty pissed.” 

“Come with me.” Ruth says as she turns and gestures Zayn to follow her. 

Zayn follows his grandmother to the dining room. “This used to be our table.” Ruth points out to the table. “Did anyone ever tell you about the first time your father and grandfather met?” 

“No. Was there much blood?” 

Ruth chuckles. “Jacob had been hearing it in both ears about your father for weeks. In the hospital, about the genius hotshot. And at home, from Julia about this handsome kid, sweeping her off her feet the past few months and he doesn’t like any of it.” Ruth says. “Well, she finally brings him home. We finished dinner. And your father has that look in his eyes that he knows what he wants and he’s here to ask for it. Permission to marry her.”

“I bet that went well.” 

“I shuffled Julia out of the dining room and leave the two of them alone. Before your father gets out a word, your grandpa pulls out a bottle of Polish vodka and he puts the bottle down, right here, on the table, takes out two shot glasses and starts pouring. Those two went shot for shot for an hour talking about anything but Julia, waiting to see which one would blink or drop first. Neither did. I hadn’t ever seen anyone keep up with Jacob before. But, your father just wouldn’t be beaten.”

“He didn’t wanna lose.” Zayn points out. 

“He didn’t know how.” 

“So, what happened?” 

“They both fell half-asleep at the table. Your father never did ask directly. And Jacob never said yes directly. But as my father used to tell me: ‘Silence is approval.’” Ruth concludes. “Your father’s not angry at you. It’s been like this between them for years.” Ruth assures her grandson. 

Zayn smiles understandingly. “Thanks, Nonnie.” 

**

“Somebody called you from London. You got a friend named Skug?” Yasir asks his son as he enters Zayn’s bedroom. 

Zayn who is busy folding his tie in front of the mirror looks at the reflection of his father. “Yeah, the one with shaved head.” Zayn replies. “He was only at the house like every day.”

Yasir nods. “Well, he called. He said to tell you that Tom Ackerman is having a mondo roof party before the winter term. Apparently he’s…” Yasir stops. “:And let me make sure I got this right. ‘Totally hot for your ass.’” He continues. 

Zayn chuckles slightly. “Yeah well, city boys are a little faster than the boys out here.” 

Yasir lets the words slide and clears his throat before he speaks up again. “Listen, Zayn. I’d like to talk to you about this London..”

“Dad, can we do this later? I’m trying to get dressed.” Zayn cut his father’s off. 

Yasir sighs. “Okay.” He says before he turns to leave his son alone. 

**

“Hey, Lou?” Bobby calls for his eldest son. He finds his eldest son lying on the couch under the blanket. “Well, this is not a jacket and tie.” He points out to Louis. “This is not even pants.” 

“I’m not going. I’m sick.” Louis replies miserably. 

“Aha..where?” Bobby asks. 

“My stomach. I think I got spina buffalo.” 

Bobby kneels beside his son on the couch and feels for his heartbeat on the wrist. He then puts his hand on Louis’s forehead and shakes his head. “No such luck. Get dressed.” He says to his eldest son. 

Louis groans. Why doesn’t his father believes him? “I’ll probably gonna just yak on their floor.” 

“Please do.” Bobby replies and Louis groans as he sits up and heads towards his bedroom to get dressed. 

**

Harry opens the door with a wide smile. “Welcome to our home. May I be the first to say good evening?” He greets charmingly. 

“Thank you.” Bobby and Maura replies. 

Harry nods and opens the door wider. “Would you please come in?” He offers. Maura and Bobby smiles at him and enters the house, followed by Niall with a slight, “Hey, Harry.” Harry is about to close the door back when suddenly he saw _him._

“I’m Louis.” The guy says and Harry swears his heart beats faster as soon as Louis shakes his hand. He never sees someone who as pretty as Louis is and he curses himself for not knowing that Niall has such a hot older brother. 

“That’s a way cool outfit.” Louis compliments and Harry remains speechless and he swears he is not blushing. Not at all. 

“It itches.” Harry replies and mentally slapping himself for the stupid comment. What the hell is he thinking? But Louis laughs at his answer and walks past Harry with a big smile on his face. “I like you. You’re quirky.” Louis says and goes to the living room, leaving a flustered Harry. 

“Shit.” Is all that Harry can say at the moment. 

**

Niall eyes his surrounding and suddenly spots Zayn standing near the wall. He tries to smile but Zayn just ignores him and turns the other way around. Niall rolls his eyes at Zayn’s childish behavior. “Idiot.” He mutters silently. 

**

“Drink doctor?” Jacob offers and Bobby shakes his head. “No thank you. I wanna be perfectly lucid when my mother arrives. She’ll be miserable. That will give me a great joy.” He jokes. 

Jacob laughs. “Well, one snort won’t kill the view.” He says as he pours the drink and hands it to Bobby. 

Bobby accepts the glass and tries to ignore the shakiness of Jacob’s hand. Jacob seems to ignore it too so Bobby lets the subject drops. They only start to sip when suddenly the doorbell rings. 

Bobby turns around. “Oh, please let it be her.” 

**

“You came!” Harry exclaims excitedly as soon as he opens the door. 

“I did.” Maggie replies shortly. 

“You’re wearing regular clothes.” Harry points out to Maggie’s outfit. 

“Don’t push it.” Maggie warns. 

Harry lets it drop and leads Maggie towards the living room. “Here she is!” He announces and everyone cheers for Maggie. 

Maggie stands stiffly as Ruth hugs her and followed by the other guests. Ruth leads Maggie to the center of the living room and everyone stands aside to give them a way. 

“I did my part.” Maggie says and turns to his husband. 

“Wasn’t that bad, was it?” Irv says. 

Maggie rolls her eyes. “If anyone else needs me, I’m in the officer’s club till closing.” She says and turns to leave. 

**

Niall watches as Zayn is walking down the stairs and smiles at him. “Bathroom?” He asks. 

Zayn is trying his best to avoid Niall and points out to the stairs. “Up left, past the messy room.” 

“You guys have a nice house. Messy room not withstanding.” Niall says, trying to start a conversation. Seriously, how long can Zayn be mad at him? 

Zayn just shrugs and Niall can’t help but feeling a little hurt. Doesn’t Zayn see that he is trying to work things out here? 

“This is weird,huh?” Niall asks bluntly. “Look, you’re stuck with me till cake. We can hang up the tension if you want.” Niall says. “Peace?” 

Zayn just stare at Niall silently before Niall hears Zayn’s grandfather is calling for his grandson. Zayn turns to look at Niall after he waves to his grandfather. “Sorry. Summoned.” 

“Hey..” 

Zayn shrugs again before he turns to leave. “Yeah. Peace, sure. Gotta go.” 

Niall sighs as he watches Zayn walks away from him. What a stubborn boy, Niall thinks to himself. 

**

“Ah, I hope you’re not trying to cook anything.” Ruth says as soon as she spots Yasir in the kitchen. 

“Well, I’m just trying to be helpful. I haven’t done much around here lately.” Yasir says and shrugs. 

“You’re hosting. That’s more than enough.” Ruth says. “The rest of the headaches are mine. Speaking of it, where do you keep the Advil?” 

Yasir walks toward the cabinet and starts to speak while he’s trying to find the Advil. “It’s hard not to feel that you’re throwing a party tonight to celebrate my failure.” 

Ruth sighs. “I promise you Yasir. I wish it had never come to this.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “You and I can always talk, Ruth. You’ve always been straight with me.” Yasir admits. “Did you two come here just to take Zayn back?” He asks bluntly as he stares at Ruth. 

Ruth takes a step forward and looks at Yasir. “You’re great with Harry. But with Zayn, it’s never been a secret. He’s miserable here. I can’t imagine you enjoy watching that. A lot was dumped on you before you could handle it. We’re just trying to take on our part. Make it easier on you.” Ruth says and stops. They both fall into silence after that, only listening to the sound of the piano that comes from the living room. Ruth smiles and looks at Yasir again. “They have a good rhythm, Yasir.” She says, referring to Zayn’s talent. “Listen.” Ruth continues as she nods to Yasir to follow her to the living room. 

**

“What do you do for a living?” Harry asks Louis as they sit on the opposite couches. 

“Well, I go to school.” Louis replies and Harry tries his best to hide his surprise. Why hadn’t he see Louis before? 

They talk and laugh and Harry never feel at ease with stranger as fast as he feels with Louis and it makes him scared. “You hungry?” Harry asks when Louis suddenly winces and grabs his stomach. 

“No. I haven’t been able to eat anything all day.” Louis says. “I’m kind of allergic to my grandma.” 

Harry chuckles and starts to stand up. “I’ll get you some tea.” 

Louis smiles. “Thanks.” He says, totally grateful because he loves tea. “You know, you’re the only one in your family that isn’t a total freak.” He says. 

Harry laughs, trying to hide his blush and waves Louis off, heading towards the kitchen to get the tea. 

**

Louis groans inwardly when he sees his grandmother is coming towards him at the living room. He sits still on the couch, hoping that his grandmother wouldn’t notice him but God has other plan for him. 

“Hey.” Louis turns his head slightly as he hears his grandmother’s greeting. “Hey.” He replies back. 

“So..having fun?” Maggie asks as she looks at his eldest grandson. 

“Loads.” Louis replies sarcastically. 

“Parties are a lot easier when you can drink.” Maggie says as she sips her drink in her hand. “is it my imagination or is your face about the color of balsa wood?” 

“I’m not feeling too great.” Louis replies. 

Maggie chuckles. “You always did have a stomach like a sea cucumber. One twiddle we all knew what was for breakfast.” 

“Well, thanks. Thats really helpful.” Louis says as he rolls his eyes. He is truly not feeling great at the moment and his grandmother is making fun of him. Perfect. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Maggie apologizes. 

“You said it like that.” Louis points out. 

Maggie sighs. “We done here?” 

Louis rolls his eyes again. “Oh, yeah.” 

**

“Oh sorry I was..” Yasir trails off as he almost bumps into Zayn at the kitchen. 

“I’ll get out of your way.” Zayn quickly replies as he tries to walk around his father. 

“You don’t have to. You could stay for a bit and talk to me.” Yasir says.

“Yeah, what’s there to talk about?” Zayn retorts. 

“Well, I think plenty.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “I thought you’d be happy I was going back.” 

“Why would you think that?” 

“Years of experience.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “Well, forget about me for a minute. Do you have any idea what this might do to your brother?” 

“More than you did when you moved us here. We would have been fine if we could just stay in London. You’d be respectable instead of being a town’s crazy.” Zayn points out. “I’m going back.” Zayn says determinedly. 

“You know, just because you and your grandfather have made up your minds doesn’t mean that I have. I may not be your favorite but I’m your father and it’s still my decision.” 

Zayn scoffs angrily. “Unbelievable! You’re not even sorry I’m going. You’re just mad that I’m going with him! It really is all just a competition with you.” 

“You have no idea what this is to me.” Yasir says as he starts to walk out from the kitchen. “We’ll talk about this later when you’ve calm down.” 

Zayn shakes his head and follows his father angrily. “No! You wanna talk? Let’s talk.” He follows his father into the living room and doesn’t even notice that everyone is now staring at the scene. “Come on, let’s talk. Say something.” 

Yasir turns around to face Zayn. “I don’t think we should do this right now.” 

“No, you know. I miss home. I miss knowing my way around and having friends that I can trust. I miss not feeling like a freak all the time. I miss not being around people who think Cats is an opera.” Zayn says angrily. He doesn’t even know why he is so angry but he feels like he wants to break down right there and then. “All you have to do is say it. Just say it! Just say ‘you can go back.’ You know you want to!” 

“You’re the one who wanted to move back!” Yasir replies. 

Harry’s eyes go wide as he stares at the scene. “You’re leaving?” He asks as he looks at his brother. How come he doesn’t know about any of this? 

“No, Hazza. He’s just thinking about it.” Yasir says. 

Zayn glances at his brother for a second before he stares back at his father. He loves Harry but at the moment, he is just too pissed off at his father. “Oh, come on. You love this stuff. My fate’s in your hands. You dragged me out here and you get to own me going back.” 

“Listen..” Yasir says, trying to calm his son down. 

Zayn shakes his head as he backs away, putting a wider distance between him and his father. “No, really. You listen. I’m asking you. You tell me. You really think I’d be happier in Mullingar? Or better off in London?” 

Harry stares back and forth between his brother and father. He hates this. He hates how his father and Zayn don’t get along and he is the one who always caught up in the middle. He loves both of them but somehow they keep forgetting that he is part of the family too. He looks at his father hopefully, hoping that his father would reply Zayn’s question with the right answer. 

“I think you’d be happier in London.” Ysair finally says after few seconds of silence. 

Zayn doesn’t know why it hurts but it does. He grits his teeth, trying to hold back his tears. “That’s what I thought.” He says before he turns around and making his way towards his bedroom. 

**

“It’s an appy.” Yasir says. 

“You don’t know that.” Bobby replies. 

“Check the leg.” 

“I will.” 

“It’s gonna be tender.” 

“It might.” 

Louis has to bite back his screams when his father moves his leg up. “Dad…..” He whines painfully. 

“And fever too. I’m telling you…” Yasir says. 

“It might be his appendix.” Bobby finally agrees. “Don’t you have enough trouble with your own kids?” Bobby retorts in annoyance. 

Louis rolls his eyes at his father and groans again when his father tries to prod his abdomen. He shuts his eyes tightly to let the pain pass. 

“Your appendix is inflamed son. That’s nothing to be scared about.” Bobby says. 

“Do they have to take it out?” Louis asks timidly. 

“Probably. We should get him to a hospital.” Yasir says. 

“Have you seen the snow? More than a foot of it has come down since we’ve been here. It’s waist-high on the road.” Maura pipes in as she listens to the conversation. 

“Can we call a plow?” Yasir asks. 

Bobby sighs. “Irv is here.” When Yasir look at him confusingly, Bobby continues. “Irv is the plow.” Bobby turns to look at his son who is now look ashen on the bed and speaks up again. “Okay, 90% of the time there are no complications in the first day. We’ll all probably only be stuck here overnight.” 

“Stuck? That’s fantastic. Couldn’t have come at a better time.” Yasir says. 

“We may as well get comfortable. Where’s your snow stuff?” Maura asks. 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “Snow stuff?” 

“Bedding, pillows, toothbrushes, condensed milk. Emergency extras for when guests get snowed in.” Bobby explains. When he looks at Yasir’s blank face, he rolls his eyes. “Oh, don’t tell me..”

Yasir shrugs and shakes his head. “You people should have a packet explaining all of your customs. I thought snow was a normal part of the routine.” 

“Oh, well it is, genius. Only sometimes the snow wins.” Bobby replies. 

**

Harry takes a step towards a figure that is sitting in front of the piano. “Why do you and dad hate each other?” He asks bluntly as he looks at Zayn. 

Zayn stops playing with the piano and looks at his younger brother. “We don’t hate each other.” 

Harry sighs and shakes his head. “Then how come you want to leave?” He asks, in a small voice. 

Zayn feels his heart drops at the question. He doesn’t like to see a frown on Harry’s face and at that moment, it’s all that Zayn can see. “It’s hard to explain.” Zayn says before he continues. “Remember last week when it was really cold? You tried on some of your old sweaters.” 

Harry nods. “I got too big for them.” He says. But what is has got to do with the conversation that they are having at the moment?

Zayn nods. “Yeah.”

“I couldn’t move my arms.” Harry says. 

“That’s kind of how I feel about Mullingar.” Zayn says. “Make sense?” 

Harry nods in resignation. “I think so. Except, you’re not too big.” He says as he looks at Zayn. “You fit here.”

**

“We were once snowed in during a slumber party. Half a dozen 5-year-olds running around for three days.” Nina says as she is heading towards her basement and Yasir follows her from his house. Nina opens the cupboards that have the gears for any case of snowed in and shoves it into Yasir’s hand. “I suspect that the parents could have gotten here in two but they wanted the break. After using towels for blankets for a few nights, I vowed never to be unprepared again.” She continues. “You are not listening to me, are you?” She points out when Yasir seems to not giving her attention and looks blankly at her. 

“Sorry.” He apologizes shortly. 

“No, it’s fine. I just need to brace myself for the self-pity.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “This isn’t self-pity.” He says but when Nina smiles understandingly at him, he sighs. “I’m trying to do what’s right for Zayn. I’m trying to give him what he wants. The funny thing is, he thinks I don’t care. And every time I try and tell him, someone says something stupid. I say something stupid and it all just goes to hell.” 

Nina nods as Yasir finishes his rant and smiles at the guy in front of her. “Well, you said it just fine right there. Why don’t you go tell him that?” 

“I can’t do that. He might change his mind.” 

“Well, isn’t that what you want? Go for it.” 

Yasir sighs again. “I want what’s right for Zayn. And I’m beginning to think that I’m not it.” 

Nina shakes her head and sighs at Yasir’s stubbornness. “Scale of one to 10, how you like your honesty?” 

“What?” 

“Well, I’m just trying to tell you that I think you’re being an idiot and I need to know how much to sugarcoat it.” Nina says. “You’re not sure that you’re what’s right for Zayn. It’s that all you got? Because I give you more credit. I really thought you had something more than that. Since when is there dignity in parenthood? You’re changing diapers for God’s sakes and suddenly you wanna be noble?” 

Yasir blinks his eyes at the bluntness of the woman in front of him. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” Nina says sternly. “You had sympathy.” 

It takes a few moments before Yasir can finally nods and smiles. “Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.” 

Nina shrugs. “Well, who says I have to be nice all the time? And who says you do?” 

**

Niall wraps his hoodie tighter around his body and steps out to the front porch. He spots Zayn who is sitting alone on the chair with his earphone danglings in his ear. “Hiding?” Niall asks as he stands hesitantly near Zayn.

Zayn pulls out his earphone and shrugs. “I’m watching the snow. It’s different here than in London. Chunkier.I used to like rain better but now I’m on the fence.” 

Niall smiles and nods understandingly. He takes a glance at Zayn before he turns to look at the snow mounts in front of them. “I like the snow. It has something to say when it falls down like this. It’s like time stops. Everyone stays home and I don’t know…drinks hot chocolate.” Niall says. He then turns to look at Zayn again and points out at the empty space on the chair. “Am I allowed?” He asks. 

Zayn wipes off some of the snows and nods. Niall smiles and sits beside Zayn. “Thank you.” He turns his head to stare at Zayn again and he realizes that how much he misses to be near Zayn. “Why didn’t you tell me you were thinking of leaving?” 

Zayn exhales a puff of breath before he replies. “I didn’t think you’d have much of an opinion.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows. “Of course I would.” 

“Sorry, that came out wrong.” Zayn apologizes. “I didn’t tell you because I needed to figure it out for myself. Like it or not, you tend to have an effect on my moods.” Zayn admits bluntly. 

Niall chuckles. “I’ve seen your moods. That’s a lot of pressure.” He says as he looks at Zayn and smiles. 

Zayn smiles in return and shrugs. “It’s nothing you do on purpose but..it’s like when you’re nice to me, there’s nothing I can’t do. And when you’re mad at me, it’s all I can think about, you know? Then you say things like ‘maybe you should move on.’ And it sticks with me for a little while you know?” Zayn says and looks at Niall. “You’re in my head.”

Niall feels his heart warmth at Zayn’s words and part of him feels guilty for driving Zayn up until the point that Zayn really wants to move out from the town. “I’m sorry.” He apologizes. 

“It’s okay. Not your fault.” 

Niall shakes his head. “It is sometimes. I don’t exactly have a history of being cautious with your feelings, Zayn. If it helps any, my moods have been lousy too. I thought it was bad when Liam was gone. Now he’s awake and I can’t even go see him. His parents kicked me out and said he wasn’t ready.” 

“That sucks.” Zayn says. 

Niall nods. “Really does.” They fall into silence for few minutes before Niall turns to look at Zayn again. “So now that the decision is yours, you really gonna go?” 

“I think so. Yeah.” Zayn replies and turns to look at Niall as well. “London has everything, right?” 

Niall swears that the pang in his heart is not of because of Zayn’s answer but deep down he knows it’s the truth. “Mullingar has really good snow.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “That’s your pitch?” 

They stare at each other and Niall can feel that really doesn’t want Zayn to leave but part of him understands that Zayn is not happy at the town. He wants Zayn to be happy. “Yeah.” He replies shortly. 

**

Yasir spots Jacob beside the piano and heads straight towards his father-in-law. “I wanna talk to you.” 

Jacob looks at him and nods. “In a minute.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “No. Now.” He says sternly and turns around to find a private spot for them to talk. 

“So, here it comes,huh?” Jacob points out as soon as they steps out to the backporch. 

“Yes, here it comes. I think it’s time for you to know on what I think about this.” 

“We already heard what you think.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “Not all of it. I think it stinks.” 

“Bravo.” 

“I think you put me in this position.” 

“Blame me all you want but I’m doing exactly what you’d do if you could see the shape you’re in.” Jacob says. “You’re barely holding it together. And your eldest son is so depressed that everytime I talk to him, all he can talk about is how he hates it here. How you two are tearing each other’s heads off. You know, he asked to leave.” 

“Only because you pushed him! You knew when you packed your bags you were gonna take him back. You were just looking for a new reason.”

“I don’t need a new reason. The old reason is just fine.” Jacob says. “Yasir, you were always only just half a person. Yeah, you’re a great surgeon but you’re only a surgeon. As a man, you’re like glass. No substance. No soul. And you’re lucky with Harry because he’s so crazy about you, he can’t tell. But Zayn knows. He sees through you because you don’t have Julia to cover you.” 

Yasir feels his blood boils as he hears Jacob’s words. “I think I’ve done pretty well for my kids under the circumstances.” 

“Pretty well? In this ridiculous town where you can live your half a life and get thanked for it because your medicine is free? Where you can pretend to be the new Yasir because you can cook dinner? You’re squandering your gift. And I’m not gonna let you sink Zayn with you. You lose this round.” 

“We both lost that day!” Yasir starts to raise his voice angrily. “I haven’t thought about you for one minute since she died. Those kids are all I’ve got left in the world. And there’s no way in hell anybody’s going to take them away from me.” 

“I was a father too. And you’ve been taking what’s mine since the day we met. You took my daughter and you neglected her. And now she’s gone. I won’t be left with nothing.”

They both stare at each other angrily when suddenly Harry’s voice pipes in. “Dad?” 

“Not now Hazza.” 

Harry seems to ignore Yasir’s reply. “Dad!” He calls in alarming tone.

That seems to get Yasir’s attention. “What is it?” 

“Louis fell down.” 

**

Louis groans in pain on the bed and feels like his stomach is going to explode in any second. He barely recognizes the hand on his head, trying to calm him down because he doesn’t think that he could calm down at any moment. He is just in pain. 

“What happened?” Yasir asks as soon he enters the room. 

“His appendix burst.” Bobby replies.

Yasir checks for Louis’s temperature and frowns. “His fever’s up. We should get him to the hospital.” 

“It’s a mess out there. We could get stuck.” Bobby says. 

Yasir sighs. “We can’t risk that. I don’t think he can wait until morning. Zayn!” He calls out and Zayn appears at the door few seconds later. “Go get my saw. Put it on the dining room table.” He orders and Zayn obeys silently. 

Yasir then turns to look at Louis. “This is going to be fun.” 

**

They manage to make it until Yasir’s clinic as Louis is stretched out using the dining table. “Sorry about your table.” Louis says as soon as they reach the clinic. 

“That’s okay. I was gonna get rid of it, anyway.” Yasir says. 

“He’s in pain. Can we get him something?” Bobby asks as he looks at his son worriedly. 

“I don’t have anything.” 

Bobby raises his eyebrows. “Well, how do you plan to anesthetize him?” 

“We’re not equipped for this. We’ll make do.” 

“You’re not gonna make do with my son.” Bobby says sternly. 

“What do you have in your office?” Jacob suddenly pipes in. 

“Lidocaine, the basics.” Bobby replies. 

“Go get it.” Jacob says and Bobby nods, already on the rolls towards his office. 

“Where’s he going?” Louis asks weakly and Yasir tries to comfort the kid. “He’s going to get supplies. Don’t worry.” 

Once Bobby is back, he and Yasir have a little argument on what to do with Louis. Yasir decides to do a minor surgery right there and Bobby is finally agrees when Yasir assures him that it will help Louis. 

“Louis, here’s the thing. I’m gonna give you a shot. Then Dr. Malik will do something showy with your back so you won’t feel anything for a while which is good because then Dr. Hoffman will remove your appendix.” Bobby explains to his son. “He’s done thousands of these.” 

“Sound like a plan.” Louis replies weakly. 

Jacob shakes his head and Yasir raises his eyebrows at that. “What’s wrong?” 

“I can’t. I had a few belts at the party and I can’t focus. Maybe you better handle it.” 

“You had half a glass of wind two hours ago. I haven’t been south of the clavicle since my residency. Let’s get going here.” 

“I..I..” Jacob trails off as he tries to raise his hand. 

“That’s a tremor.” Bobby says, suddenly realizes about Jacob’s condition. He looks at Yasir. “His hands, they’re gone. You’ll have to do it.” Bobby says. 

**

“This is how to make a good cocoa. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Niall says as soon as he finishes with the cocoa that he is making for Harry. Harry remains silence and Niall tries to get Harry’s attention again. “Harry?” 

“I told him not to get up.” Harry says guiltily. To be honest, he was scared to death when Louis fell down in front of his eyes. 

Niall smiles understandingly and looks at Harry. “Louis doesn’t listen to anybody. I have the dumbest brother in the world.” 

“No, you don’t.” Harry quips. He doesn’t think that Louis is dumb. 

“Well, it’s a close call.” Niall points out as he smiles at Harry. “Being a younger brother is hard work.” 

Harry nods, agreeing with Niall’s statement. “I know. They need help with everything.” 

Niall chuckles and takes a seat beside Harry at the kitchen stool. “You okay?” He asks, concern laces in his voice. 

Harry shakes his head and sighs. “I don’t know.” 

“Want some more hot cocoa?” Niall asks. 

Harry shakes his head. “Don’t feel like it.” 

“Me neither. I just needed to make it.” Niall admits. 

Harry looks at Niall and smiles in assurance. He knows Niall is worried about Louis. Niall keeps glancing on his phone and the clock on the wall and Harry knows because Niall wants to know about Louis’s condition. “You don’t have to be scared. My dad’s there. He’s the best.” 

Niall nods and smiles gratefully at Harry. “I know.”

**

“You should see the cecum now.” Jacob says. 

“That’s the slimy thing, right?” Yasir points out. “Okay, I got it.”

“Is it okay?” Louis asks as he tries to look down but Bobby holds his head down back on the pillow again. “Don’t worry about anything. Just keep looking at me.” Bobby says as he strokes Louis’s sweaty hair gently. “Focus right here, Louis.” 

“I can’t.” Louis croaks. 

“Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I broke my arm?” Bobby starts, trying to distract his son from looking at the surgery that he is having at the moment. “My parents finally decided to let us have a color television. First thing we turn on is a rerun of the old Superman show. We got so excited. Later we were playing Superman up in the top bunk and I’m wearing this sheet tied around my neck. So Aunt Linda says let’s see if my brother can fly. Just pushed me off. Needless to say, I did not hit the beanbag. I crushed my toy train and had to get rushed to the hospital by your grandmother.” 

“In her sidecar?” Louis asks. 

Bobby nods and smiles. His plan of trying to distract Louis is working. “Yeah, the sidecar.” Bobby keeps distracting Louis again and once the surgery is done, neither Louis nor Bobby realizes that. 

**

“Mrs. Horan called. Said Louis is all right.” Zayn says as soon as his father enters the kitchen. 

“He will be.” Yasir says. “Where’d you sleep?” 

“Harry and I split his bed. The other thousands slept everywhere else.” Zayn says, referring to the other guests that got snowed in their house the night before. “You look beat up.” He points out as he looks at his father. 

“Yeah.”

“How is Dr. Horan?” Zayn asks. 

“He’s a good dad. You could see if anything happened, he’d never survive it.” Yasir says and smiles softly as he looks at Zayn. “I’m sorry Zayn. I didn’t mean to fight with you with everybody there.” 

“It’s my fault too.” Zayn admits. 

“Yeah, but I’m supposed to be the grownup around here, not you.” Yasir points out. 

Zayn shrugs. “It’s fine.” 

“No, it’s not fine. I do the wrong thing. I say the wrong thing. I say awful things but I..I get so angry sometimes.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “Yeah.” 

Yasir senses that Zayn is misinterpreting on what he meant by that and continues. “No, not at you. Let me finish. I get angry at myself because I can’t seem to make you understand how much I need you.” 

That gets Zayn’s attention and he stares at his father instead of looking at anywhere else. Yasir takes it as a sign for him to continue. “You know, when your mom died, a thousand people said a thousand stupid things to me and I just wanted one of them to give me a reason not to die. Then one night we were sitting there, trying to eat and you just said, ‘everything’s gonna be okay.’ That was the first night I slept. You’re the only one who can tell me everything’s gonna be okay and I believe it. I don’t know why you’re that person for me and I don’t know why we don’t treat each other better but at least now you know. I wish I could be the same for you. Instead you’re miserable here which is my fault. And if you go back to London, that’ll probably change. You’ll probably be happier. I meant that.” Yasir says and pauses. “But I don’t care. I want you to stay. I _need_ you to stay. Not just for Harry but for me. You know, your grandfather thinks I’m only half a person. And if you leave, he’ll be right.”

**

Louis feels someone is putting a wet rag on his forehead and he opens his eyes slowly. “Grandma.” Louis croaks. “Great. It’s bad enough I have to have surgery now you’re gonna..” 

“You stop right there.” Maggie scolds sternly. “Your appendix popped which hurts like hell. Then someone cut you open while you watched. You never made so much as a peep once through the whole thing. You were a good soldier. Made me proud.” Maggie says and salutes her grandson. 

Louis could help but feels happy at his grandmother’s compliment. “Thanks.” 

Maggie nods. “But let’s get one thing clear. You are under strict orders never to get sick like that again or I will kick your sorry butt myself. Understood?” 

“No deal.” Louis replies cheekily as he smirks. 

“Excuse me?” 

“No deal.” Louis repeats again. “Unless you say it again but nicer.” He prods. 

Maggie shakes her head. “You had me worried, kid.” Maggie finally admits. 

Louis grins and nods, satisfy with the response. “I almost forgot, you got a visitor.” His grandmother says and Louis raises his eyebrows in confusion. “Who?” He asks and that’s when he sees him at the door. 

“Hi, Louis.” Harry waves and steps closer to the hospital bed. “I brought birthday cake. Can you have it?” Harry says as soon as he reaches besides Louis’s bed and smiles. 

Louis returns the smile and looks at the cake. “Not yet. But I like to smell it anyway.” He says and Harry chuckles. 

“You really scared us.” Harry says. 

“I’m sorry.” Louis apologizes. He didn’t mean to scare Harry like that. He doesn’t like to see a frown on the curly-haired boy’s face. He likes to see Harry smiles with the sweet dimples on his cheek. It’s adorable, Louis thought. 

“Don’t do it again, okay?” Harry says and Louis nods, glancing at his grandmother. “It’s already taken care of.” He says to Harry. 

**

Niall smiles to himself as soon as he spots Zayn at diner. He then sneaks out silently behind Zayn and pulls out his earphone, making Zayn turns to look at him. Niall chuckles at Zayn’s shocked expression and bouncing to sit beside Zayn. He smiles and stares at Zayn before he speaks up. “I got in a fight with Liam, he ended up in a coma. I bitched at Louis and his appendix burst. I bit your head off for no reason and haven’t said sorry yet and I don’t want you to end up in a hospital before you leave. Call me superstitious but..” Niall rambles and when Zayn is looking at him amusingly, Niall feels himself blushes under Zayn’s gaze. “Sorry.” He says sheepishly. 

Zayn smiles fondly as he looks at flustered Niall. “You are without a doubt the strangest boy I have ever met.” 

Niall chuckles. “I know. But you’ve been a good friend to me despite it.” Niall says gratefully. He squints his eyes at Zayn. “You’ve been different.” Niall points out. 

“Well like bad different or..?” Zayn asks. 

Niall shrugs. “Different.” He replies shortly with no further explanation. 

Zayn chuckles and shakes his head at Niall’s antique. “Guess I’ve been called worse.” 

Niall shrugs again as he looks at the menu and suddenly speaks up again. “And you suck for leaving. Did I mention that? Just totally suck.” 

Zayn laughs at that comment. “Actually I don’t. I’m not going. Not anymore.” Zayn says. 

Niall looks up from the menu sharply and turns to face Zayn properly. “You’re not? You’re staying? Since when?” He asks eagerly. 

“Since I embarrassed myself in front of all our friends and family and told off some of the larger football players. Do you think that’ll be a problem?” 

Niall shakes his head and smiles at Zayn. “I thought London had everything.” Niall says. 

Zayn stares at Niall. “Just about.” 

Niall stares back at Zayn and he swears he can get lost in those beautiful eyes of Zayn. “I’m glad you’re staying.”


	11. Not really a happy Thanksgiving

“Well, I’ll be darned.” Yasir announces as soon as he put the raw turkey on his kitchen. “Nobody told me you had to take measurements.” He says as he pokes the big turkey in front of him. 

Zayn and Harry raise their eyebrows at their father and chuckle at the sight. Zayn almost chokes on his cereal when his father says, “I guess there’s no reason we can’t carve it first, then cook it. Would that be strange?”

Zayn nods. “Very.” He says and stands up, heading to the living room, ignoring another one of his father’s antique. 

“It would still taste the same. Probably better, in fact..because if you had both sides..” Yasir continues before Zayn turns around and rolls his eyes. “Dad, give it up.” 

Harry shakes his head and looks at his father. “Mom had a turkey that was too big once.” He states. 

Yasir raise his eyebrows. “She did? What did she do?” 

“She buttered the sides of the foil, pushed it in.” Harry tells animatedly. “She said, ‘Once it was garnished, no one would know.’” He continues before he reaches one of the books near the kitchen stool. “It’s all in here.” He says as he points to the book in his hand. 

Zayn sits down beside his brother as he looks at the familiar book. Harry ignores his brother and continues talking. “Remember how mom made the stuffing with the apricots?” 

Zayn nods and smiles as he stares down at the book. No wonder it’s familiar. The book is made by their mother consisting of recipes and other things. “Yeah. And look, there’s those biscuits with the cheese in them. Remember that?” Zayn tilts his head to ask Harry. 

Harry grins widely and nods before he turns to look at his father. “Can we make Thanksgiving like Mom’s?” 

Yasir sighs. “You know, Hazza, your mom was really into these things. She’d been..” 

“Look! There’s the cinnamon-rhubarb pie!” Harry exclaims excitedly, cutting his father off. 

Yasir shakes his head as he looks at his sons. “You know what, guys? I have a brilliant idea.” He says as he reaches for the phone. “Hey, Art? It’s Yasir.” He speaks through the receiver. “Listen, I’m under an impression that the café does Thanksgiving dinners you can pick up.” He pauses. “You do? Great.”

Zayn watches as Harry’s smile turns to frown as their father continues to speak on the phone. He realizes how much Harry wants to celebrate Thanksgiving as they were used to when their mom was alive. Harry turns to look at Zayn and Zayn feels his heart clenches as he looks at his little brother’s sad face. That is when he promises himself that he would give Harry the best Thanksgiving ever. 

 

**

 

Zayn steps into the room only to find Harry tiptoeing on the edge of the chair as he tries to reach the box on the top of the closet. The chair looks near to topple over and Zayn rushes toward his younger brother. “Hey! What are you doing? Get down there. It’s not sturdy.” 

Harry obeys Zayn’s order and leaps out of the chair. “The chair was too short.” He whines as he puts the box on the floor. 

“What are you looking for anyway?” Zayn asks. 

Harry shakes his curls out of his eyes before he points out at the things inside the box. “These.” 

Zayn picks one of the things and reads the title. “Mom’s Thanksgiving books?” 

“Grateful books.” Harry corrects his brother. “This one’s last year.” He says as he points at the book that is now in Zayn’s hand. 

Zayn opens the first few pages and finds his own picture on the book. “’We are grateful for Zayn’s piano playing which sounds like angels dancing on the keyboard.’” Zayn reads out loud. His eyes dart to the next page and reads out the rest of the words. “’We are grateful for Nonnie’s successful hip operation.’”

Harry reaches out for another book inside the box and waves it in front of Zayn. “The one before is even better.” He says. 

Zayn closes the book and looks at his brother. “I used to think these things were stupid.” He admits. 

Harry rolls his eyes. “You said they looked like third-grade art projects.” 

“I was a punk.” Zayn replies shortly. 

“She thought it was funny. Besides, she knew you really liked them.” 

Zayn tilts his head and glances at the melancholy expression that come across Harry’s face at the moment and Zayn feels the urge to cuddle his younger brother into his arms forever. “You know, it’ll still be Thanksgiving this year, Hazza.” Zayn says softly. 

Harry shakes his head slowly. “It won’t be the same.” He states sadly. 

“You don’t know that.” Zayn says, trying to cheer up his brother. 

“Yes, I do.” Harry says. “Dad just wants to bring the food in containers. There’s no parade on the street, and Mom’s not here to make her book.” 

“Well, you can watch the parade on TV. Dad’s not cooking. That’s like an early Hanukkah present.” Zayn tries to joke. 

Harry remains quiet and shrugs dejectedly. “It won’t be any good this year. I wish Thanksgiving wouldn’t come at all.” He says before he stands up and leaves the room. 

 

**

 

Yasir enters the kitchen only to find the mess on the table, with Zayn frowning over the recipe and he raises his eyebrows at the sight. “Finally had it with my cooking?” 

Zayn startles a bit from the sudden greet and shrugs. “Oh, I’m practicing the biscuits.” He replies shortly. 

“Art said that they were included.” 

“I know.” Zayn says and pauses. “I canceled Art.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m gonna do it. The way mom used to.” Zayn explains. 

“I’d do it the way mom did too, just faster.” Yasir tries to reason. 

Zayn shakes his head. “I can do this.” He replies stubbornly. 

Yasir stares at his son for a while before he speaks up. “You know, Zayn. Being mom isn’t as easy as it looks. I’ve been trying for a year, and as miraculous and wonderful as we all thought she was , we had no idea..” 

“I know who mom was.” Zayn cuts his father off. “Just need a credit card for groceries.” 

“You sure you want to do this? Because Art’s is fine. It’d be much easier.”

Zayn shakes his head. “Harry wants it to be like mom’s.”

Yasir grows silent after that. “Okay. Well, if you’re gonna cook. I’ll help you.” 

Zayn swats his father’s hand away from the ingredient. “I got it.” 

“You don’t have to do this, Zayn.” Yasir says gently. 

“Yes, I do.” Zayn says determinedly. “For Harry.” 

 

**

 

“Hey, where’d you go?” Zayn asks as soon as he reaches his younger brother in front of one of the shops on the street. 

Harry ignores his brother’s question and points out at the list. “What’s the difference between ‘condescended’ milk and evaporated?” 

“I don’t know. Get the one like on the list.” Zayn replies. 

“It just said ‘canned.’” Harry whines. 

“Well, get both.” Zayn shrugs. 

Harry nods. “Okay.” He says before he enters the shop again. Zayn watches as Harry’s clumsily trips over his shoelaces and startles when someone greets him. 

“Zayn!” Niall greets excitedly and Maura greets with “hello, Zayn,” at the same time. 

“Mrs. Horan, Niall, hey.” He greets politely. 

“I’m gonna pop across and get cranberries from the stand.” Mrs. Horan says and looks at Niall. “You get the nuts that your father likes for the dressing, okay?” 

Niall nods and turns to look at Zayn again as soon as his mother leaves. He smiles as he looks at the grocery bag in Zayn’s hands. “Doing the shopping yourself?” 

“Not exactly.” Zayn replies at the same time Harry gets out from the shop. 

“I got all of them.” Harry announces and Niall smiles as both brothers hold their groceries bag. 

“Hey, Harry.” Niall smiles at the younger boy and Harry smiles in return. “Hi, Niall.” 

Harry turns to talk to Zayn again about the pies and Zayn nods, approving of Harry’s request to make all pies like their mom did and the excited boy heads into the shop again. 

Niall shakes his head fondly as he watches Harry leaps out excitedly and smiles as he looks at Zayn. “He’s excited.” 

“It’s his favorite holiday.” Zayn replies. 

Niall chuckles. “I can see that.” 

“My dad’s not so into it, so..” 

“It’s cool of you to do this form him.” Niall says sincerely. He knows Zayn loves Harry like he himself loves Louis, because who in the world doesn’t love their own sibling, right? 

“Well, try saying that after he dies of food poisoning.” 

Niall laughs out loud at that and shrugs. “Sometimes I think Thankgiving itself can be kind of a natural disaster.” 

“I’m about to scientifically prove it.” Zayn retorts. 

Niall raises his eyebrows and smiles. “It can be fun, though, under the right circumstances, making a mess and all. Cooking’s like mud-pies for grown up.” 

Zayn chuckles. “Well, I’ll try and think of it that way.” 

Niall grins again and his eyes glance over where his mom is waving him to come to the car and he turns around. He bids his goodbye to Zayn but then stops and looks at Zayn again. “Hey, if this isn’t just a brothers’ thing, I could help if you wanted.” He offers. 

Zayn tries to hide his excitement as soon as Niall finishes and tries to play it cool instead. “Sure.” He replies shortly. He smiles so wide that he doesn’t stop even until Niall is out of his sight. He thinks he might be a little bit in love with Niall James Horan. 

 

**

 

“Yeah, I had no idea how much work she put into these things.” Zayn says as he sits on the bed while Niall is on the floor, leaning on Zayn’s bed. 

Niall nods and browsing through the next page of the book. “These books are beautiful.” He says sincerely. “You’ll always have them, that part of her.” Niall states soflty as he looks at Zayn who is now sprawling on his bed, looking at another book that his mom did. 

“Stuff I did looks terrible.” Zayn says and chuckles. 

Niall shifts his position to face Zayn and shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t. It looks like you put a lot of effort into it.” 

Zayn smiles gratefully at Niall’s nice words. “I don’t even know why I’m bothering this year.” He says and continues. “If you’re not grateful for anything, what’re you supposed to put? ‘Grateful my mom died’? ‘Lost the house we grew up in’? or ‘Moved to a town where I don’t know anybody, so my crazy dad..’?” 

“I got it. Let’s make an ungrateful book.” Niall says, slightly annoyed by Zayn’s pessimism. “I could put: ‘Liam, the accident, the Paynes saying he’d recover better without me, my brother.’” Niall says and stops as he stares right into Zayn’s eyes. “You know, Zayn..this year I felt like, for the first time, I’m not in control of anything. And well, even though things aren’t the way I want them to be, I’m still grateful for some things.” Niall says and smiles. 

Zayn swallows a big lump that suddenly forms in his throat as he looks straight into Niall’s beautiful baby blue eyes. “You’ll have to stop doing that, you know.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows confusingly. “What?” 

“Saying things that make me want to kiss you.” Zayn states boldly. He doesn’t know where it comes from but that’s how he feels at the moment. Being so close with Niall and having the other boy stares at him and those eyes, those lips…

Niall blushes and stares at Zayn as he licks his lips. “You too.” He says and on impulse, he leans closer and kisses Zayn. On the lips. 

Zayn returns the kiss passionately and they must be lost In the kiss for only few seconds before they both startle at the sound of Harry’s voice opening the bedroom’s door. 

“Zayn! We need to get more cranberries.” Harry announces, completely oblivious on what happened between his brother and Niall few minutes before he barges into the room. 

“Oh. Okay, why?” Zayn startles, his heart is still beating fast from the shock. 

“The old ones turned black.” Harry says as it is the biggest problem in the world. 

“Can it wait?” Zayn says as he darts his eyes between his brother and Niall who is now standing awkwardly besides the bed. 

“We gotta go right now. They were running out at the stand when we were there.” Harry says. 

“It’s Thanksgiving. They won’t run out of cranberries.” Zayn tries to reason. 

“He’s right actually. Every year there’s a run on cranberries.” Niall suddenly pipes in, making Zayn turns and look at him. “By Thanksgiving mealtime, you could trade a pack for a new stereo.” Niall continues. 

Zayn turns back to look at Harry. “Get your coat.” And Harry bounces excitedly as he walks out from Zayn’s room. 

Once Harry leaves, Zayn turns to look at Niall and both of them stand awkwardly. Niall tries to smile which comes out more as a grimace and Zayn for once is at loss for words. 

 

**

 

“Anything missing?” Yasir asks as he looks at the table and Nina shakes her head. “No.” Yasir smiles at his neighbor. He and Zayn invited Nina and her son for the dinner because they thought that the more the merrier. 

“This is just awesome, Zayn.” Yasir praises as he glances at the foods on the table. 

They are about to say grace when suddenly Zayn stops them. “Wait, real quick. One thing first.” He says and stands up to leave the table. 

“I knew it was too good to be true. What did we forget, potatoes?” Yasir teases. “There must’ve been 100 different potatoes on the counter.” 

Zayn sits down again and pulls out the thing from his hand and gives it to Harry who is sitting silently besides him. “Look. We finished it. Just in time too.” Zayn says, referring to the book that he did earlier. 

“It’s not like mom’s.” Harry retorts as he looks at the book. 

“Yeah, sure it is. Look.” Zayn says as he opens the cover of the book. “We got different things to be grateful for.” 

Harry shakes his head. “No. None of this is like mom’s.” Harry says loudly. 

“What are you talking about? We got her potatoes, made her stuffing…” 

“It’s not hers!” 

“Harry, Zayn tried really hard to make it just the way we remember it.” Yasir scolds his youngest son. 

“The book isn’t like hers. The food isn’t hers. And they shouldn’t be here.” He says, looking at Nina and her son. 

“Stop it, Hazza.” Yasir says sternly at Harry’s uncharacteristically rude behavior. 

“Nothing’s like it was. It’s ruined!” 

Zayn ignores his father as he looks at Harry again. “Look. Give it a chance.” He says as he tries to show the rest of the book to Harry. “Look, the first one is about you..” 

“I don’t wanna look at it!” Harry shouts and throws the book on the floor. 

“Hazza, pick up that book.” Yasir raises his voice slightly. 

“No!” 

“I said, pick it up!”

Harry glares at his father before he stands up and leaves the room. 

Nina stands up too and looks at Yasir. “Can I talk to him?” And when Yasir seems to refuse, Nina continues again. “Please?” 

 

**

 

Nina walks slowly towards the boy who is crossing his arms and staring at the window, or more likely glaring at the window. “You’re right, Harry.” Nina starts. “Nothing is the way it used to be.” She says and takes a step forward to reach Harry. “Nobody knows how to be your mom. And no one could ever replace her. Your dad and Zayn just wanted to make Thanksgiving nice for you because they know how much you love it and because your mom loved it.” Nina pauses before she continues. “But you’re right. It’s not the same. It’s okay to be sad that it’s not. It’s okay that you miss her. Your daddy misses her and Zayn misses her too and she misses you. But she wouldn’t want you to be sad forever because she only wants those good, happy things for you. And it’s all right to feel bad because she was so important to you and because she loves you very much.” 

Nina doesn’t have to wait long after she finishes before Harry turns around and buries his head on Nina’s shoulder and starts to sob. “I miss her.” Harry’s broken voice muffles on Nina’s shoulder. 

Nina rubs Harry’s back soothingly. “I know, baby.” She wraps her arms tighter around the boy who is almost as tall as she is but deep down she knows he is just a boy who had lost his mom too soon and Nina understands that. 

 

**

 

“They offered to stay and help. What were we thinking?” Yasir whines as he looks at the mess at the kitchen with Zayn standing beside him. 

“It was nice having them here. Or it would have been if..”

“I really admire what you did though.” Yasir says, cutting his son off. 

“What? Make a Thanksgiving meal so disastrous that my little brother had a meltdown?” 

“Well, I think in his heart, Harry really believed it was gonna be the same.”

“I told him that it would be the same.” Zayn sighs. “Instead I made everything worse.” 

Yasir chuckles at the irony of the statement. “Welcome to my world.” He pauses. “You didn’t make things worse, Zayn. I believe you make things better everytime you do something for her to let her know that you love her.” 

“You know, I wanted it to be the same too.” Zayn admits quietly. 

Yasir smiles sadly as he looks at Zayn. “I know. We’ll just have to create new traditions.” 

 

**

 

Zayn exhales the cold air from his mouth as he knocks the door. It takes few minutes before the door is open and Bobby Horan’s face appears. “Zayn. Come in.” 

Zayn enters the house and smiles at the older guy. “Happy Thanksgiving, Dr. Horan.” 

“Yeah, you too. I assume you’re here for Niall.” 

Zayn nods and smiles again. “Yes, sir.” 

“I’m afraid that he’s gone off to the hospital with his mother.” 

Zayn feels his smile crumbles and nods. “Oh.” Is the only response that he can come up at the moment. He thought something is happening between him and Niall after the kiss but apparently he forgot that Niall technically has a boyfriend who is living at the hospital and yeah, that kinda sucks. 

“Will you give him this for me?” Zayn says as he passes the small wrapped gift to Bobby. 

“Absolutely.” Bobby replies. 

“Tell him I made it.” Zayn says. 

“I certainly will.” Bobby says before Zayn nods and let himself out of the house. Bobby closes the door and turns around, facing Niall who was hiding behind the wall earlier. 

Bobby gives the gift silently to his son and starts to walk away. Niall looks at the gift for a few seconds before he starts to speak up. “Dad, I don’t know what to do.” 

Bobby stops walking and turns to look at his youngest son, waiting for further explanation. Niall sighs and leans on the wall tiredly. “Let’s just say there’s a person in your life who you were in love with. And then something happened, and he was gone for a while. And then you met another person, and you started to have feelings for him.” Niall pauses. “Is it possible you can have feelings for two people at the same time?” 

Bobby smiles softly before he nods. “Very. What’s not possible is to be true to two people at once and uh, Zayn has feelings of his own.”

Niall shifts uncomfortably and bites his nails out of habit. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Don’t toy with him.” Bobby replies shortly. 

“I’m not.” Niall retorts. 

Bobby shakes his head. “Niall, I know this year has been incredibly difficult for you. And I know Zayn’s been a friend when you really needed one. You care for him, possibly as more than a friend. But if you don’t intend to pursue those feelings, and I don’t believe you do, you have to let him go.” He says and smiles again at Niall before he turns away, leaving Niall with a thought to ponder. 

Niall waits until his father leaves before he opens the gift in his hand. He pulls out the slim rectangular thing and smiles as he looks at the CD. “Oh, Zayn..” 

 

**

 

“Do I just push it?” Harry asks as he toys around with the handycam. 

Zayn nods. “Yeah. When I start, hit this red button.” He points out to his younger brother. 

“Okay.” 

“Ready?” Zayn asks and Harry nods before he notices his father. “Dad!” 

Yasir puts down his things on the table before he looks at his sons. “”Hey. What are you guys up to?”

“Zayn had an idea. We’re making a tradition.” Harry explains excitedly. 

“A whole tradition? And what, pray tell, is this tradition?” Yasir asks as he follows Harry to sits in front of the coffee table. 

“We record ourselves saying the best thing that happened to us this year. Isn’t that fun?” 

Yasir nods and smiles. “Sounds like it.” He says and turns to look at Zayn. “Could I have my credit card back?” 

Zayn laughs and throws the card to his father before he starts to turn on the camera in his hand again. Harry is talking about something and forces Zayn to hold the grateful book that he made for Harry for Thanksgiving and Zayn turns the camera to face his father at last. 

“And what about you, dad?” Zayn asks. 

“Me?” 

“Yes. You’re next.” Zayn says and follow his father’s movement until he is sitting in front of him, facing the camera. “What’s the best thing that happened to you this year?” 

“The best thing that happened to me this year is that I met my son.” Yasir says as he looks straight at the camera, and also at the person behind the camera. Zayn feels himself smile at that and both of them smile at each other, knowing that it is indeed the most important thing to be grateful about.


	12. Devotion

“This is our home for God’s sake! Not some Willie Nelson’s dressing room.” Bobby grumbles in annoyance and Louis sips on his tea and chuckles silently at his father’s outrage. Turns out, her mother, who is the town’s mayor decided to put the evidence at their basement until they figure out about the suspect. And the evidence turns out to be marijuana. 

“This is totally great. The dudes at school are not gonna believe this.” Louis says and grins widely. 

“No, this will be long gone before the dudes hear anything about it. Now shoo!” Bobby says sternly as he looks at his elder son. “Go on, shoo! This is government business.” 

Louis laughs out loud but leaves the room anyway, leaving both of his parents to deal with their problem. 

“Listen, I am not exactly thrilled about this either, Bobby but Bud and Lily want an investigation. That poor woman can’t die with her reputation sullied.” Maura explains to her husband. 

Bobby shakes his head. “I don’t care if Irma Ferdonia was held hostage by a Colombian drug cartel. We have two impressionable children living under this roof. Now the prospect of having the county supply of a illicit narcotic under our floor? It’s unacceptable.” 

Maura rolls her eyes and ignores her husband’s dramatic action and nods towards the police officer who on his way to leave their house. “Thanks again, chief. I’ll work from home today. Let me know if you find anything.” 

Bobby looks at his wife like she is crazy and shakes his head. “No, you cannot stay home alone here with all of this stuff in the house.” 

“I will be fine, Bobby.”

“No, absolutely not. I’m calling Lisa. She can reschedule my appointments. I’m staying with you.” 

Maura rolls her eyes and ignores her husband again as she turns to leave. Bobby follows her and they both enter the living room only to find their youngest son staring at the telephone silently. 

“Niall?” Bobby calls out as Maura looks at him worriedly. “What is it?” 

Niall looks up to look at both of his parents. “The Paynes just called.” He starts. “Liam’s coming home.” 

 

**

 

“Well, I could be there in about three hours.” Yasir says to someone on the phone. “No, no. That’s terrific. I guess I’ll see for myself today. All right, great. Thank you.” 

Zayn watches his father as he puts down the phone and turns to look at him. “That was one of the doctors from the hospital.” His father says to Zayn and he raises his eyebrows. So? 

“Liam has finished his basic rehabilitation.” _Oh._

“So, he’s coming home.” Zayn states. 

Yasir nods. “Yeah, a little too soon if you ask me. I’m going down there today. The Paynes want my seal of approval.” 

“Well, make sure and tell him hi for me.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows as he looks at his son. “You know, Zayn. I know this hasn’t been easy for you.” 

“No. At least, they got him back alive, right?” He says before he stands up and leaves his father, refusing to talk more about Liam. 

 

**

 

Zayn is walking towards his bike when he notices a small group and a familiar voice talking about banners and balloons and he knows the voice very well. He stops and watches from aside and asks one of the bystanders who is apparently watching the small group too. “What’s that about?” 

The boy glances at Zayn for a second before he answers. “There’s a welcome-home party for Liam.” 

Zayn nods. “Of course there is.” He mumbles under his breath. 

The boy besides him smiles as he looks at Zayn again. “Bro, your dad rocks.” He says before he bumps his shoulder with Zayn’s and leaves. 

Zayn ignores the boy and watches the scene again. “He does good work.” 

He is still standing nearby the small group before Sean walks towards him and smirks. “Out with the new, in with the old. Nice not getting to know you.” He says as he passes by Zayn and it hurts for Zayn to admit but it stings. 

He watches Niall who is apparently excited about the welcoming home party because the boy is smiling and laughing and Zayn feels his heart clench because he knows, he is not the reason for Niall’s smile. So he does one thing that seems right, he turns and walks away. 

 

** 

 

“It’s fair to say that you performed something of a miracle here, Dr. Horan.” One of the doctors says to Yasir and he nods humbly. He just did what he had to do and it’s a miracle that Liam is progressing so well, it shocks everyone including himself. 

“Well, let’s not categorize this today.” 

The other doctor shakes his head. “Whatever you want to call it but I’ve never seen anything like it in 20 years.” He says and starts to walk into the room and Yasir follows his lead. 

“Dr. Malik, thank you again.” Yasir smiles as he is greeted by Mrs. Payne and just nods silently. He then looks at the young boy who is apparently can start to walk again and except of the sling on his right arm, the boy looks perfectly fine. He walks towards the boy and the boy stops walking. 

“Well, Liam. I think we’ve both seen enough of this place. You ready to go home?” He asks at the young boy who reminds him so much of Zayn. 

Liam just stares at him blankly before he answers. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

 

**

 

“Stop right there, young man! Where do you think you’re going?” 

Louis who is bouncing as he skips the stairs suddenly stops and raises his eyebrows at his father. “To the kitchen to get a beverage.” 

“Sure, sure. Forget it.” Bobby says before he continues. “Kitchen’s closed down until this whole mess blows over. Come on. I may not be up on the latest rap, but I wasn’t born yesterday.” 

Louis doesn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry at his father’s paranoia before Niall bursts out from the kitchen and shakes his head. “Dad, really, get a grip. Pot’s only supposed to make you paranoid after you smoke it.” Niall says as he walks pass Louis with a cup in his hand, walking upstairs heading towards his room. 

“That better be hearsay, young man.” 

Niall ignores his father’s ridiculousness as he steps inside his room and looks at his note. The note where he listed all of the things to be done for Liam’s homecoming party. He is in his own world before someone knocks on his door and he turns to look only to find his older brother. 

“What do you want?” He asks. 

Louis steps inside and shrugs. “Nothing. I heard Cole Stock broke up with Lori Treadwell.” He says as he looks at his younger brother. Niall seems distracted and Louis smiles fondly at his brother’s cuteness. Not that he would ever tell Niall about that to his face. 

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl. What are you wearing to Liam’s?” Niall asks as he looks at the outfits inside his closet. 

“Clothes.” Louis replies shortly before he takes a seat at the edge of Niall’s bed. “So..it’s pretty wild, huh? Him coming home and everything?” 

“’Wild’ isn’t exactly the word I’d choose.” Niall says. “The Paynes said I should meet them at the park early. We’re riding together.” He continues before he picks up a nice blue shirt with a white cardigan and shows it to Louis. “What do you think about this?” 

Louis just nods dismissively and Niall rolls his eyes at his brother’s lack of enthusiasm. “He’s supposed to be your bestfriend, or did you forget?” 

“I didn’t forget.” Louis says. “I’m just a little worried.” He admits. 

“Worried he’s gonna be pissed about the accident?” 

Louis leans forward and shakes his head. “I’m not worried about me, okay?” He says as he looks at Niall. “Maybe you should just chill a little, just dial down the whole wacky boyfriend switch or..” 

“Why are you such a jerk?” Niall cuts his brother’s off before he could finishes. “I can’t believe you’re trying to ruin this for me.” Niall says in annoyance. 

“His condition sucks, Ni. They say he’s got low memory.” Louis says, trying to make Niall understand that he is worried about Niall. About how Niall is hoping too much and Louis doesn’t want his brother’s hope to be crashed down later. 

“He’s not a laptop. I get his condition, okay? Temporarary memory loss is standard following a stage-coma..” Niall says stubbornly. 

Louis rolls his eyes at his brother’s stubbornness. “Whatever. I’m just saying..” 

“What do you suggest, anyway? For me not to celebrate the return of my boyfriend?” 

Louis sighs and shakes his head. He stands up and starts to walk out from Niall’s bedroom. He stops as he is standing besides Niall and hugs his brother briefly. “Just be careful.” He says before he walks out. 

 

** 

 

Zayn is reading one of his comic books when his father knocks the door. “Hey, we’re watching James and the Giant Peach. Care to join us?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Enticing, but no.” He replies shortly and turns his attention this comic book again. He turns his head to look at his father again as the older man is still standing beside the door. “Why you doing that linger thing thing you do sometimes?” 

Yasir shrugs. “I don’t mean to force a conversation, Zayn..”

“That would be a first.” Zayn retorts and rolls his eyes. 

“Okay, forget it.” Yasir says and turns to walk away. 

Zayn groans and put down his comic book. “Wait.” He calls out to his father and Yasir smirks before he turns around to look at his son. “Sorry.” Zayn apologizes simply. Yasir stares at Zayn silently and the boy raises his eyebrows. “What?” 

“I was wondering how Niall was doing, regarding Liam coming home.” 

Zayn shrugs. “Well, he’s the most popular boy in school again, the love of his life is back, and he’s throwing a party. I take it he’s doing pretty well.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “A party? Whose idea was that?” 

“It wasn’t mine. Believe me.” Zayn retorts sarcastically. “But I guess the Paynes are cool with it. Half of the school is going to be there.” 

“Well, I don’t know if Liam is ready for a party. That could be overwhelming.” Yasir points out. 

“Yeah, try telling Niall that.” 

“Liam’s a strong kid to be doing this well, but he’s not the same as he was.” Yasir says. “You might need to be there for Niall.” 

Zayn chuckles humorlessly. “I don’t think so. Niall and I aren’t really talking right now.” 

“You aren’t? When did that happen?” 

“A while ago.” 

“How I’d miss it?” Yasir asks. 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “You were busy being clueless.” 

“Oh, that’s my job.” Yasir deadpans. Zayn ignores his father and Yasir crosses his arms across his chest as he stares at his son. “So, what happened? Did you two kiss or something?” He asks bluntly. 

Zayn swears his eyes are about to bulge and Yasir shakes his head amusingly at the reaction. “I’m not _that_ clueless.” 

Zayn sighs before he starts to speak up. “I don’t know what happened. One day he’s kissing me then I make mistake of giving him this stupid mix CD and then he’s acting like I’m Yakumo and he’s Shiva the Destroyer.”

Yasir gapes blankly and Zayn shrugs. “Manga reference.” He says shortly and Yasir finally nods. 

“Well, I’d go to the party.” 

Zayn looks at his father in confusion. “Why?” 

Yasir shrugs. “Well, because whatever you and Yakumo have going isn’t gonna work itself out right away. In the meantime, just because he stopped being your friend doesn’t mean you have to stop being his. Because trust me, he’s gonna need one right now.” 

 

**

 

Niall smiles widely as he spots Liam who is sitting alone on the bench at the park. “Hi.” Niall greets, a little bit nervous since Liam is staring at him like he doesn’t knows Niall at all and it stings a little. Niall steps closer and opens his arms hesitanly, “can I?” he asks and when Liam nods, he hugs Liam tightly. “I miss you so much.” Niall whispers quietly. 

“I missed you too, Niall.” Liam replies as they pull away and sit down. 

“How you feeling? I mean, you’re probably tired, right?” Niall asks as he looks at Liam. “You must be really, really tired, coming home and everything.” He rambles because that is what he does when he is nervous and that is exactly what he is feeling at the moment. “How long was the trip home?” 

“It wasn’t long.” Liam replies shortly. 

Niall smiles and nods. “You look great.” Liam says and Niall feels his heart swells with joy. “So do you.” He replies because what else he could say? He’s been waiting for Liam to open his eyes for months and now that Liam is finally sitting beside him, of course Liam looks great. 

They fall into uncomfortable silence before Liam speaks up again. “Thanks for coming to see me at the hospital.” He says politely. 

“I would have come more. I wanted to, but school stuff, you know.” Niall replies and he stares at Liam for a while, looking for something in Liam’s eyes but the other boy’s eyes just..blank as he looks at Niall and Liam avoids the eye contact first. 

“How’s Louis?” 

Niall ignores the sudden change of topic and chooses to go along with it. “Okay. I mean, he’s still Louis. But other than that, he’s fine.” Niall says. “I’m sure you’ll see him tonight.” 

Niall feels like he wants to cry when they fall into an uncomfortable silence again. It feels like he is talking to stranger instead of Liam and he tries to push the feeling away. 

“Is Mrs. McGee still teaching English?” Liam asks suddenly and Niall nods. 

“Yes. Can you believe it? My God, she must be like, 60. Remember when we stole her keys?” Niall smiles at the memory and Liam just looks at him blankly before he replies with a simple, “sure.” 

“Yeah, how could you forget that, right?” Niall chuckles, completely oblivious to Liam’s blank face. “She had to walk all the way home.” Niall continues and turns to look at Liam again. 

He frowns as he sees Liam is clasping his hands nervously and Niall reaches Liam’s hands. “You all right?” He asks and that’s when he sees it. The small note in Liam’s hand. 

“I’m sorry.” Liam says. “Sometimes I just need some help.” 

Niall smiles and pats Liam’s hands. “It’s okay. Me too.” Niall says as he reaches down to see the note and that’s when he sees it. His name is on it. With the description. And he swears his heart is breaking right there and then. 

“I’m sorry. It’s..” Liam stops. “I’m sorry.” He repeats again. 

Niall stares at the small paper and looks at Liam sadly. “You don’t remember me at all.” And when Liam shakes his head, Niall tries to pretend that his spirit isn’t lost at the moment. 

 

**

 

Niall glances at Liam as they are sitting at the backseat of the Payne’s car and they are approaching the destination. The car stops and Niall smiles slightly at Liam as some of their friends are filling up the front yard with the banners and balloons. Liam just looks at them blankly and Niall’s shoulder slumps dejectedly. 

Zayn watches as the car stops and looks at the face of Liam and Niall as they open the car’s window. He first look at Liam as he sees that Liam looks confused and part of him feels pity for the guy. Then he looks at Niall and he feels his heart clenches. Niall looks so sad and Zayn knows it has to do something with Liam’s condition. Somehow, he glads that his father is forcing him to go to the party because he knows he just couldn’t let Niall feels sad, alone. 

 

**

 

Zayn sips on his drink silently as he watches Liam from the corner of the living room. Liam is sitting with a blank expression on the couch with some of his friends talking to him but Zayn knows that Liam is overwhelmed with all the people. “You talk to him?” One of the boys ask Zayn and Zayn rolls his eyes. 

“Not recently.” He replies sarcastically but the boy doesn’t seem to notice the sarcasm. 

“Cool, huh? Back from the dead to resume the throne of glory.” The boy says and Zayn shrugs carelessly. “Lucky guy.” But Zayn knows better. 

He puts down his paper cup and heads to the outside instead. He is pretty sure that he’s alone when suddenly he hears the voice nearby. “Zayn.” He turns around to find the owner of the voice. “What are you doing here?” 

Zayn shrugs and tries to smile. “Apparently, attenting a party uninvinted.” He replies. 

Niall shakes his head as he leans on the wall. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m glad you came. I just didn’t think you would.” 

Zayn walks closer to Niall and smiles. “What, and miss the biggest party of the winter?” He says before he continues. “I have a reputation to maintain.” 

Niall just smiles slightly and Zayn leans on the wall as well, standing beside Niall and steals a glance towards the other boy. “So shouldn’t you be inside being ecstatic or something? I mean, didn’t you Martha Stewart this whole thing?” 

“It hasn’t exactly gone like I planned.” Niall admits. 

“Liam’s back, Niall. From where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve gotten everything you ever wanted since I met you.” Zayn says and looks at Niall. “You should get back inside.” 

Niall just shrugs and Zayn rolls his eyes. “I should really take off.” He says before he starts to walk away. 

“Hey.” Niall calls out and Zayn turns to look at him. 

“Can I come?” Niall asks and Zayn only takes a few second to think before he finally nods. 

 

** 

 

Louis takes a deep breath before he steps forward and smiles nervously at Liam. “Hey.” He greets and Liam looks at him blankly before he speaks up. “Louis.” 

Louis nods. “Yeah.” He replies shortly. “How you doing?” He asks as he takes a seat beside Liam on the couch. When Liam remains silence, Louis starts to ramble because apparently that is the trait that runs in Horan’s family. “This must be pretty weird for you, 100 people bombarding you all at once but we’re all just really glad you’re back, dude, you know? The last few months, it was totally lame without you. It means, it was like you didn’t miss anything except for everybody missing you which is kind of confusing but you know what I’m saying, right?” 

Liam shakes his head. “Not really.” 

“Sorry. I’m kind of freaked at talking to you.” Louis apologizes. “I’ve been thinking about what to say to you for so long. Everything I came up with sounded about as stupid as whatever the hell I just said.” He rambles again. “I don’t really know where to start.” He admits. 

“They told me what happened.” Liam says. 

Louis sighs. “It’s okay if you hate me.” 

“I don’t hate you.” 

“I cannot tell you how sorry I am.” Louis says sincerely. “You know, four months, you were out cold. That was four months I wished it was me.” 

Liam shakes his head and is still not looking at Louis. “I can’t forgive you either.” 

Louis nods. “That’s cool. You know, I get it.” 

“You don’t get it.” Liam snaps as he finally glares at Louis. “I can’t forgive what I can’t remember.” Liam says in frusfration. “I don’t remember that day. I don’t remember the accident. I don’t even remember you. I know you from a picture.” Liam says and Louis can only blink his eyes as Liam seems to vent out his frusfration to him. “You’re Louis Horan. You’re 5’9”. We met in fourth grade and we’ve been best friends ever since. You’re the brother of Niall Horan. He’s got a pretty face, blue eyes, guitar player, used to be annoying until we started going out one year before I smashed my head into a dashboard.” Liam says and pauses. “It’s all part of the rehab. I’ve got a list of facts, on just about everybody. Everything else..” Liam stops and shakes his head. 

Louis swallows a big lump in his throat. “So, this party sucks for you.” He replies because that’s what he does, he deflects the emotional situation but looking at Liam’s unshed tears, he feels bad for his bestfriend, or more like his-used-to-be bestfriend. 

“I thought it would help, seeing a bunch of people’s faces I’m supposed to know..” Liam’s voice breaks. 

“Man, you’re alive. That’s huge.” 

The tears leak from Liam’s eyes as he looks at Louis again. “That’s what everyone keeps saying.”

 

**

 

“Been wondering how you’ve been. I mean, since before the party and all.” Niall says as he glances to Zayn as they stride on the sidewalk, wandering aimlessly around the town. 

“You mean since before you disappeared and were a crappy friend because Liam was coming home and you couldn’t deal?” Zayn states bluntly. 

Niall shrugs and nods sheepishly. “Yeah, since then.” 

Zayn exhales before he replies. “Been alright. I mean, about the same. Found a new people to have lunch with.” He says and smiles when he sees a tiny smirks on Niall’s face. “You know we have a non-English-speaking foreign exchange student named Norbert from Germany? Or is it Prague?” 

Niall rolls his eyes at Zayn’s quirky humor but smiles nonetheless. Zayn feels happy that he can wipes away the frown from Niall’s face and looks at the smaller boy again. “So you want to tell me what happened?” 

Niall stares ahead as he starts to speak up. “Everyone told me that it would be hard seeing Liam. No matter how many times I heard it, I had no idea that it would be this hard.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows in confusion. “He seemed okay.” 

Niall looks at Zayn. “You didn’t know him.” He pauses before his voice breaks. “And now he doesn’t know me.” Niall says as he tries to hold back his tears. “It’s like he really did die in that accident. How sad is that? I can remember what he wore on our first date. Abercrombie rugby with his jeans with the bleached splotch.” Niall says before he pauses and his lips quiver. “He doesn’t even know who I am.” He continues as he feels himself continue to crumble. “I built my whole life around memories of us and he can’t even remember my name without..” Niall stops walking and blinks back his tears. 

Zayn looks at Niall and puts his hands on Niall’s shoulder, tries to soothe the distraught boy. “Hey, my dad said it just takes a while.” He says gently. “I mean, he’ll remember eventually. You just gotta stick it out.” 

Niall shakes his head hopelessly. “It’s been six months, Zayn. When do I run out? When do I just give up?”

“You don’t. That’s what devotion is, Niall. I mean, I thought you loved him. That’s all I’ve heard about for the last, I don’t know, forever. And what, the first day, you just wanna throw in the towel? The truth is, you couldn’t give up on him right now even if you wanted to because since the day I met you, you’ve been loyal to Liam and when you’re loyal to someone, you can’t help it.” 

Niall just stares at Zayn as he finishes with his speech. “How come you’re so smart?” 

Zayn chuckles slightly at the statement. “I’m not, believe me.If I was, I would be wearing a warmer jacket right now.” He says as he shivers because of the cold weather. “And I wouldn’t be telling you to go back to your boyfriend.”

“Zayn…” Niall trails off because what else he can say? He is being unfair to Zayn and he knows it. 

“I wish it was different. I do. I wish I was here first, but I wasn’t.” Zayn admits. “And the truth is, he needs you. He needs your help to get better.”

Niall nods and smiles slightly at Zayn. “Guess I should probably get back there, shouldn’t I?” 

Zayn nods. “Yeah, yeah. Definitely.” He says as he forces a smile. 

“You wanna come with me?” Niall asks. 

“I don’t think so.” Zayn replies truthfully and Niall nods understandingly. “Okay.” 

 

**

 

Niall knocks on the door for few minutes before Mrs. Payne opens it and looks at him. “Niall.” 

“Hi, Mrs. Payne. I was just wondering..” 

“He’s very tired.” 

“Please.” Niall pleads. “Just for a minute.” 

Mrs. Payne looks at him for a while before she finally nods and opens the door for Niall to come in. “Okay, just a minute.” 

Niall enters the living room and finds Liam on the couch, looking at him warily. Niall takes a seat in front of Liam and smiles. “Hi.” 

“I’m sorry.” Liam apologizes politely and Niall has to surpress his chuckles because Liam was never so polite with him like this before. But then Niall remembers that this is the _new_ Liam and shakes his head out of his stupor. 

“It’s okay.” Niall replies. “And you don’t have to fake it anymore. I know you don’t remember me.” 

“I tried.” Liam says sincrely. “I wanted to.” He continues. 

Niall nods. “I know.” He smiles again as he stares at Liam boldly. “But I think you’ll like me if you get to know me, again.” 

They both stare at each other and when Liam finally smiles and nods, Niall feels himself smiles too. “Hi. I’m Niall.” He says and extends his hand for Liam to shake. 

Liam reaches Niall’s hand and shakes it in return. “I’m Liam.” And both of them smile at each other.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to: Everwood

“Hey. You ready for your first day of school?” Niall asks as soon as he got out from his car and meets Liam. Liam stares blankly at Niall and nods nervously. 

“Sure.” Liam replies. “What’s that?” He asks as he points out at the jacket in Niall’s hands. 

Niall hands out the jacket to Liam and smiles. “Your football jacket. You gave it to me last year. I thought you’d wanna wear it today.” 

Liam nods again and takes the jacket from Niall’s hand, staring at it silently before he follows Niall into the car. Liam has a feeling that today is going to be a long day for him and he hasn’t even reach the school yet. 

 

**

 

“Clear the way, people. Clear the way. My brother has returned.” Louis says as he walks aside Liam and Niall as they walk into the school. 

“You’ve got homeroom and then first period is with Mr. Bedford.” Niall tells Liam as he reads the list of Liam’s schedule in his hand. “He’s a little bit out of it so he may not even notice you. We both have Mrs. Chapman for journalism. She’s not nice at all. Unless she likes you, of course. Then you’re golden.” 

Liam just nods silently and glances at Niall. “Does she like me?” He asks quietly because yeah, he can’t remember anything, can he?

Niall smiles as he looks at Liam. “Everybody likes you, Liam.” He says and he really means it. Liam has a certain traits that makes him likeable and yes, Niall is one of the people that like Liam as well, obviously. 

“You wouldn’t happen to remember where homeroom is, would you?’ Niall asks as they reach the school’s hallway. 

Liam shakes his head. “No clue.” 

“That’s okay. I’ll show you.” Niall offers and Liam smiles gratefully at him before they both walk side by side heading towards their homeroom. 

 

**

 

Zayn watches from afar at the two figures and startles when suddenly Danny is standing beside him. “It’s weird seeing them together again. Almost like nothing ever happened.” Danny comments. 

“I wouldn’t know.” Zayn replies shortly as he turns to walk towards his first class of the day. 

Danny follows Zayn like a puppy and starts to talk again. “Hey, I know you’re feeling destroyed right now, but I’m here for you, buddy.”

Zayn rolls his eyes at his friend’s weird behavior. “Why would I be feeling destroyed?” 

“Cause you’ve been holding Liam’s place in line.” Danny states bluntly. “Now, he’s back you’ve got nowhere to stand. You wasted time on Niall for nothing.”

“It wasn’t for nothing.” Zayn replies defensively. 

“Oh, it’s true. It was like a practice crush. Now you can focus on liking someone a little more of your speed.” 

“Shut up, Danny.” Zayn snaps and that makes Danny stop in his tracks. He waves Zayn off but not before he grins widely and winks at Zayn, making the other boy flips him off. 

 

**

 

“I know you.” Liam says as soon as he spots the guy at the toilet’s sink, washing his hands. 

Zayn glances on the mirror and sees Liam on the reflection, standing behind him. “I don’t think so. I’m new here.” Zayn replies. 

Liam shakes his head. “You’re Zayn Malik. The kid from London.” 

Zayn dries his hand and nods. “Yeah, that’s me.” 

“I thought so.” Liam mumbles quietly. Zayn seems to ignore him and about to walk out from the toilet when Liam suddenly speaks up again. “You know, I know all about you.” 

Zayn stops on his track and turns to face Liam. “You shouldn’t waste your Google time on me. I’m not that interesting.” 

Liam shakes his head. “Louis told me about you.” 

Zayn scoffs. “Of course.” He mumbles. “Look, I don’t know what Louis had said about me but he’s running on empty as far as brain cells are concerned.” 

“Your dad saved my life.” Liam cuts Zayn off. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Well, I met him a few times in rehab. He’s the one that did the operation, right?” Liam asks, suddenly unsure about the fact. 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “That’s what Louis told you?” 

“That’s what everyone told me.” Liam replies. “Said he’s some kind of a genius.” 

Zayn chuckles. “Yeah. He likes to think so.” 

Liam stares at the boy in front of him and he feels at ease. Because the boy is the only one who treats him like a normal person and it feels good. “Well, you’re cool with me. It’s nice to meet you, Zayn.” Liam says as he extends his hand for Zayn to shake. 

Zayn shakes Liam’s hand and nods. “Sure. It’s nice meeting you too.” 

 

**

 

“I wonder what the lunch lady eats for lunch. Does she eat this stuff or brown-bag it?” Zayn ignores Danny’s rambling as he walks silently. Apparently Danny is not planning to stop any sooner because he keeps rambling about the lunch lady.

“Your thoughts exhaust me.” Zayn cuts Danny off and walks ahead of his friend. He is about to reach his usual table when suddenly someone calls out his name. He turns around only to find Liam and the boy is waving at Zayn to join his table. “Zayn. I saved you a seat.” 

Zayn looks at the table and shakes his head. “It’s okay. I’m just gonna..” He says before Danny grabs his arm and whispers, “sidebar,” before he drags Zayn to the side. 

“Dude, what is wrong with you? The popular table is beckoning.” 

Zayn shrugs. “So?” 

“So you can’t say no!” Danny says, a little too loud for Zayn’s liking. “That’d be like saying no to free comics or saying no to making out with Gwyneth Paltrow. Such things are simply not done.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Okay. All right.” He says and Danny takes off while Zayn heads out towards the said table. 

 

**

 

Liam smiles at Zayn and pats the empty seat beside him before turns to look at his friends. “You all know Zayn, right?” 

“Sure, we do.” Louis replies and looks at Zayn. “How’s it going dude?” 

Zayn shrugs. “It’s going good. How’s it going with you?” He replies, trying to keep in line with Louis because if Louis is playing nice because of Liam, he should’ve done the same thing too right? 

Louis simply nods. “Good. Thanks for asking.” 

“Niall, will you scoot over. You’re life suffocating me here.” Sean suddenly says, making all of them to look at him. 

Niall scoots over and ends up sitting right in front of Zayn and he smiles at the other boy. “Hey, Zayn.” He greets, quite awkward because hey, it’s just Zayn, right? The guy who likes you and you kinda like him back but you have a boyfriend, right? 

Liam notices the exchange and speaks up. “Oh, right. You guys obviously know each other.” 

Niall turns his head to look at Liam and shakes his head. “No. No not really. I mean…” He trails off as he looks at Zayn and notices the look of hurt and betrayal and he kinds of want to smack himself. “..not so much.” He says nonetheless. 

Liam gives them a confused look. “You’re both sophomores. I mean, you must have some classes together.” 

Zayn looks at Niall who seems to avoid any eye contact with him and turns to look at the guy beside him. “I rarely attend class.” Zayn lies. 

“But he does go on field trips.” Sean pipes in and Niall kicks his friend’s feet under the table. Suddenly he feels like his claustrophobic is kicking in. “I need a soda.” He says and stands up. “Want something from the vending machines, Liam?” Niall asks. 

“I’m good, thanks.” Liam replies and Niall starts to walk away. “Oh, Niall, wait up.” Niall stops and turns to look at Liam. “Zayn, do you want anything?” Liam asks. 

Zayn shakes his head and stares at Niall’s eyes. “No, thanks. I’m good.” 

 

**

 

“Pick you at the same time tomorrow, 7.30?” Louis asks as he looks at Liam when they stop in front of Liam’s house. 

“You don’t have to keep driving me to school, Louis.” 

Louis raises his eyebrows. “We always came together.” 

Oh. Liam blinks and finally nods. “Well, if it’s not out of your way, that’s cool. 7.30’s fine.” 

“You’ll see, man. It’s gonna start coming back to you. We just gotta get into the groove, you know. Stick with our old routine the way it used to be.” Louis says cheerily. 

“How do you mean?” Liam asks confusingly. 

“I mean, like lunch and everything. We have a set table. It’s been the same six people since eight grade.” Louis explains. “If we keep it the same way, you’ll have a better shot at jarring up those memories.” 

Liam stares at Louis and nods understandingly. “You mean, Zayn.” 

Louis shrugs carelessly. “Yeah. Man, he’s not like us, Liam. Trust me. I know him.” Louis says and pauses. “And I know you. It’s like ketchup and peanut butter. Really bad.” 

“Look, whatever you got against this kid, you’re just gonna have to let it go.” Liam says as he starts to unbuckle his seatbelt and looks at Louis. “I mean, as far as I’m concerned, he’s one of us now. So just work it out, okay?” 

Louis forces a smile and sighs internally at this new Liam. He misses the old Liam, frankly. “Sure. Whatever you say.” He says, deciding to please Liam for now before he gets his old Liam back. 

 

**

 

Zayn is typing his on his laptop for his assignment when he hears the noise against his window. He frowns and turns down the volume of his speaker before he walks toward his window. He pulls out the curtain and finds Niall on his front yard. Niall waves for Zayn to come out and Zayn rolls his eyes but heading for downstairs anyway. 

“You know, for future reference, you can just ring the doorbell. It’ll less a chance of breaking my window.” Zayn says as soon as he leads Niall into his house. 

Niall ignores Zayn’s comment and turns to look at the other boy. “I need to talk to you.” Niall says. 

“And apparently it’s quite urgent.” Zayn states as a matter of fact. 

“What exactly is going on between you and Liam?” Niall asks, getting straight to the point. “I mean, why are you being all buddy-buddy with him?” 

Zayn snorts and shakes his head. “First of all, I’m not being buddy-buddy with anyone, all right? He approached me.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows. “He did? Why?” He backtracks when he realizes it comes out quiet harsh and softens his tone. “I mean, why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks I’m pretty.” Zayn deadpans, trying to joke. 

Niall shakes his head. “I’m serious, Zayn. You must have done something to get his attention and I don’t think it’s a good idea. I mean, not just for me, for everyone.” 

“Well, it’s nice to know you’re thinking about everybody for a change. Instead of just yourself.” Zayn says sarcastically. 

“Excuse me?” 

Zayn sighs. “Look, anyway what’s the big deal?”

“No big deal. It’s just uncomfortable.” 

Zayn stares at Niall. “Why?”

Niall falls silent after Zayn’s question. Why? He himself doesn’t know how exactly why. He likes Liam, of course but somehow he feels something for Zayn too. And being with them in the same room, let alone at the same table during lunch makes Niall feels like he betrays both of them. 

“Whatever.” Zayn says after Niall falls silence. “Look, I have no interest in being your boyfriend’s buddy, alright? You don’t have anything to worry about.” He assures. 

“So you won’t say anything about..?” Niall trails off as he looks at Zayn. They both know what is the thing that Niall wants to ask about. Zayn shakes his head. “No. I won’t.” 

Niall releases breathe of relief. “Thank you.” He says gratefully. “That’s all I needed to hear.” 

“Unless..” Zayn says and pauses. “…of course, you know, he asks me directly.” 

“Asks you what? What would he ask you?” 

Zayn shrugs. “I don’t know. But I’m not gonna lie. I mean, you did kiss me.” He points out bluntly. 

Niall’s eyes go wide as he stares at Zayn. “You kissed me first!” 

Zayn shrugs again. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it won’t come up.” 

“Are you trying to upset me Zayn?” 

“Just being honest.” 

“Well, honestly speaking, maybe you and Liam just shouldn’t be friends. I mean, it’s not like you have anything in common anyways.” Niall snaps and mentally slaps himself when he realizes what he had said. “No. No. Wait..” He starts again, tries to rephrase so that he doesn’t see the hurt that flashes across Zayn’s face again. 

Zayn cuts Niall off. “No, you’re right. Why would the most perfect guy in the world have anything in common with me?” 

Niall swallows a big lump in his throat. “That’s not what I meant.” 

“That’s exactly what you meant. You just didn’t mean to say it out loud.” Zayn snaps back. 

Niall sighs. “This is hard for me too. Okay? I wanna be friends with you the way we were. I really do. But now that Liam’s back in school I mean..You said it yourself. He needs me.” Niall says. “And I..Well, I’m just trying to figure out how to balance all of this, Zayn. And I will. It’s just so complicated.” 

They both stare at each other for a while before Zayn circles around Niall and opens the front door. “I think you should get going. Wouldn’t want you to get in any more trouble tonight because of me.” 

Niall nods and steps out of the house and he doesn’t know why but his heart hurts when Zayn slams the door shut, it almost like he is shutting Niall out of his life too. 

 

**

 

“Yo, Z, what’s up?” Zayn raises his eyebrow as one of the kids in school walks pass him and greets him like an old friend. 

“Z? I’m Z now?” Zayn asks Danny, who is walking beside him as they are heading towards their first class. 

“Hi, Zayn.” A girl says in a flirting tone and it’s Danny who flirts back with, “Well, hellooooo..” 

Zayn turns to look at his friend. “Why does everybody know my name all of the sudden?” 

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re the new ‘it’ boy.” Danny replies and grins widely. 

“Why? I haven’t done anything.” Zayn asks, wondering what the hell is going on. 

Danny shrugs. “You’ve been Liam-approved. When the most popular guy in school takes you under his wing, it’s like you’re automatically accepted in the club.”

“But he just likes me because of my dad.” Zayn says, tries to reason. 

“Who cares why he likes you? Nepotism is a beautiful thing, Z. Embrace it.” Danny says. 

“Don’t ever call me Z again.” Zayn warns. 

“Hey Z!” One of the kids greet and Danny burst into laughter and Zayn huffs in annoyance. 

 

**

 

“Let’s get a game going. Louis and Ted, you’re captains.” The coach says and Louis stands up to the front. He looks over at the students on the bench, with bored expressions on their faces because yeah, some people hate gym class. 

“Zayn Malik.” Louis points out and Zayn doesn’t seem to hear him. “Zayn!” He calls out a little louder and Zayn stares at him blankly. 

“Dude, I picked you.” Louis says as he gestures for Zayn to come to the front. 

“Why?” Zayn grumbles but stand up nonetheless. He walks towards Louis and stops as he reaches the older boy. “What are you doing?” 

“Picking my team.” Louis replies shortly. 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “But you hate me.” 

“No, I don’t. I like you.” Louis says and his tone is indifference but Zayn knows Louis doesn’t really mean it. 

“Since when?” 

“I’ve always been fond of you. I’m just..I’m shy, you know?” Louis says as he continues to call out for another kids to be in his team. 

“Alright. Name one thing you like about me.” Zayn pushes because hell, he doesn’t want to be played by Louis again. 

“Just one? How about a thousand? You’re..you’re sensitive..extremely clean..”

“Look, Louis..” Zayn cuts in. “..I know you hate me and I’m fine with it. It means the planets are aligned. So let’s not mess with the universe, okay?” 

Louis ignores Zayn’s comment and glances over the bench and turns to look at Zayn briefly. “You wanna pick the next guy?” 

 

**

 

“Hey, Zayn, you want a ride?” Zayn turns his head to look at the owner of the voice and of course, it’s Liam, standing by Louis’s car in front of the school building. 

“No. I’m okay. I’m gonna ride my bike.” Zayn declines. 

“We can put it in back, man. Just hop in.” Liam insists and Zayn’s eyes dart towards Niall who is apparently avoiding any eye contact with him. 

“No, I mean, I’m fine. Really.” Zayn shakes his head. 

“Maybe he wants to ride his bike, Liam.” Niall pipes in, looking at Liam like he is pleading for Liam to let Zayn go because hell, the ride would be so awkward if Zayn is in the same car. 

“Well, why would he wanna do that?” Liam replies stubbornly and turns to look at Zayn. “Come on, we can make a room. Niall can sit in my lap and I..” Liam says as he tries to put Zayn’s bike in the car. 

“Yeah, I don’t need a ride, okay?” Zayn snaps. “I don’t need to be sitting at your tables or playing on your teams or any other.” He says as he glares at Louis as well. 

“Dude, what is your problem?” Louis snorts. 

“You’re my problem dude.” Zayn says, pointing at Louis and then turns to look at Liam again. “Look, my dad helped you. If you wanna thank him, be my guest but I had nothing to do with it. So can you just leave me the hell alone? Believe it or not, I have no interest in being your charity case.”

Liam shakes his head. “It’s not like that, man.” 

“Yeah, it is. Trust me. You and I, we have nothing in common.” Zayn says a little bit louder and he can see through his peripheral vision that Niall is flinching slightly at his words. “If you want, just go back to the way it was. You all ignore me and I will be more than happy to do the same, okay?” Zayn says and he turns his head slightly as he stares at Niall’s right into his eyes. “All of you.” He emphasizes and turns around, leaving them alone. 

Niall is standing speechless and he is feeling guilty as hell as Zayn walks away. “Niall, get in the truck.” Louis calls out and Niall breaks out from his stupor. He gets in the car silently and put his head on the window, staring blankly at the outside view. Why does he feels like he misses Zayn? 

 

** 

 

Liam walks towards the person that he really wants to see as he is standing by the locker and clears his throat. “Can I talk to you for a second?” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “I thought we already finished this.” He says as he slams down his locker and starts to walk away from Liam.

“Not exactly. I lied to you, Zayn.” Liam says and that makes Zayn stops walking and turns around. 

“I acted like the reason I was gonna be your friend was because of your dad but it’s not.” Liam continues. “It’s something else.” 

“All right. Let’s hear it.” Zayn challenges. 

“I don’t know you.” Liam starts. “But more importantly is, you don’t know me. You’re the only person in this school who doesn’t expect me to remember them or expect me to be this guy that I don’t even know who he was. And I’m trying to please all these people but it’s wearing me out, man.” 

Zayn nods. “I can understand that.” 

“Yeah, but it’s different with you because you don’t have any expectations. And I don’t have to feel guilty for now knowing you.” Liam admits. 

The bell rings but Liam continues to speak anyway. “See in a way, I mean, you know we’re both new. And you look about as out of place as I feel which is probably why I approached you. But what I don’t get is why you don’t like me.” 

Zayn sighs and shakes his head. “Who said I didn’t like you?” 

Liam raises his eyebrows. “Well, it’s obvious you don’t like hanging around me.” Liam says and pauses. “Is there a reason?” 

Zayn swallows thickly and averts Liam’s eyes.“No. No reason.” He replies shortly. “We’re cool.” 

“Cool.” Liam smiles widely. 

Zayn smiles in return because hell, Liam’s smile is really contagious. “So, let’s talk about this ‘Z’ thing. Who came out with that?” Zayn tries to joke to ease the tension and Liam laughs. 

“Probably Louis.” 

Zayn snorts. “Right, I knew it.” 

Niall watches from afar as Liam and Zayn walk side by side towards their class and he feels like he wants to bang his head onto his locker. He can’t possible liking two boys at the same time, can he?


	14. Tradition

“All right 'ladies'! I can watch all of you in slo-mo on the highlights tape.” The coach barks sarcastically as Liam sits silently on the bench. “Let’s get up to the speed here. Not grandma speed.”

Liam looks at the stopwatch in his hand and yells. “Time!” So, that’s what he’s doing at the gym at the moment, watching for the team to practice and time their speed. It’s a little bit boring but with his arm is still in the sling, what else he can do? 

“Okay, give me 25 laps around this place then hit the lockers.” The coach orders and the team groans but do it nonetheless. Then the coach turns to look at Liam. “Good work today, Liam. You’ve been a big help. Be back here tomorrow at 3.” The coach pats Liam’s shoulder briefly and Liam nods. “Yeah, sure thing coach.” 

Liam bumps the ball in his hand as he walks along the empty hallway frustratingly. He doesn’t get to play basketball at the moment and it makes him mad. Why couldn’t he just be normal like everyone else? He stop as he passes by the glass cabinet that displays all of the trophies that team win and stares at it. He stares at the picture of the team and finds himself in it. He looked like he belonged there, but now, he doesn’t know where is he belongs to. He turns and walks for couple of steps before he turns and throws the ball in his hand towards the glass cabinet angrily, and it shatters. Just like his heart. 

 

**

 

“Dad, what’s ‘riboflav’?” Harry asks confusingly. 

“It’s riboflavin, Hazza. It’s a vitamin.” Yasir answers. “Vitamin B2 actually. It’s primary biological function is the regeneration of gluthathione.”

Harry just stares at his father blankly and Zayn snorts at his father’s rant. “Good answer.” He retorts sarcastically. 

Yasir ignores Zayn’s comment and looks at Harry. “It helps you grow.” 

Zayn flips to the next page of his comic book when he finds a sticky note on the page. “Aganta Schnitzler. Are you trying to set me up again?” Zayn asks his father. “She sounds hot.” He continues.

Yasir shakes his head. “She’s a piano teacher.” 

“You know you have to stop this. You’re messing up the resale value of my Manga.” Zayn says as he tries to peel off the sticky note from his comic book. 

“Well, I could always use e-mail or instant messaging.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Please, don’t.” 

“Zayn, she comes highly recommended.” 

Zayn looks at his father. “By who? Gus from the shop or drug salesman who gave you Prozac pens?”

Yasir narrows his eyes as he looks at his son. “Give me a little credit, would you?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I’m not gonna call some 90-year-old woman who owns a metronome. I’d at least like a piano teacher who can remember the difference between black keys and the white ones.” 

“Well, if you play any less, it could be you.” Yasir deadpans. 

Zayn shrugs. “I’ve been playing.”

Yasir raises his eyebrows at his son. “You haven’t been playing. You’ve been playing around. You’re not taking it seriously. I’ll tell you something else. I’m not gonna force you to call these people.” 

“Good.” Zayn replies shortly as he zips his bagpack, ready to make his way to school. 

“When are you gonna be home?” Yasir asks. 

“Usual time. Unless the schoolyard pusher has some good stuff.” 

 

**

 

“’Gerrymandering.’ Who can tell me what it is?” The teacher asks and Zayn just continues with his doodle on the blank page of his book when he hears the teacher clears her throat. “Mr. Payne, what can you tell us?” 

Zayn turns his head to look at Liam who is sitting two seats across from him. “Voting..with..” Liam stutters and Zayn looks at him sympathetically as Liam struggles with his words. The rest of the class falls silent too and Zayn knows that it must be hard for Liam. 

“It’s all right, Liam.” The teacher assures and glances around the classroom. “Anybody else want..?” 

“Just give me a second.” Liam cuts her off determinedly. “I read this stuff.” Liam says before he continues. “It’s the..they wanted..they wanted to win..” Liam struggles with his memory and Zayn just stares at the scene. Suddenly the bell rings and the teacher barks about the upcoming test and Zayn watches as Liam’s face fall. 

Liam stands up and is about to pass his teacher when she stops him. “You’re doing just fine, Liam. Remember, you’re just expected to observe now.” 

Liam rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, I knew the answer.” 

“I’m sure you did. We’ll see you tomorrow.” The teacher says as Liam turns to walk away from her, with Zayn watching the whole scene. 

 

**

 

“That sucked.” Zayn comments as soon as he reaches Liam as they walk through the hallway. 

“Yeah, well. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I’m wasting everybody’s time.” Liam replies, frustrate. 

“She should have let you finish.” Zayn says. 

Liam shrugs. “Well, the period’s only 50 minutes long.” 

Zayn suddenly feels loss on how to comfort Liam and decides to just go with it. “She’s just trying to make it easier for you.” 

Liam huffs. “Yeah, well. She’s not. None of them are. They treat me like a freak. Why shouldn’t they? I can’t even remember my own locker combination if it’s not written down on a piece of paper.” He says in annoyance as they reach their locker. 

“Well, you could tattoo stuff on your body. Like Memento.” Zayn jokes, trying to ease the tension. “You could have your locker number on your left arm, your teacher’s name on your right ankle.”

It seems to ease down Liam’s mood when he smirks amusingly at Zayn and Zayn grins. “Not helping much, am i?”

“You know maybe you could help. Help me study for the test. Maybe if she can see that I can do the work..”

“She can treat you like crap again?” Zayn says and smiles. 

Liam nods. “Exactly. See, it gives me something to look forward to.” Liam says and looks at Zayn. “I mean, if you got time.” 

“I mean, yeah. I’m not exactly acing the class either.” Zayn says. 

“Hey, it’s all relative.” Liam smiles and they both close their locker’s door. 

“Hey Liam.” Niall appears suddenly and startles both Liam and Zayn. Niall smiles and greets Zayn as well. “Hey Zayn.” 

“Hey.” Zayn replies shortly and smiles at Niall before Niall turns to look at Liam. “Can I talk to you for a second?” Niall asks. 

Liam nods. “Yeah, what is it?” 

Niall bits his lower lip and glances over Zayn. “Alone?” 

Zayn has to refrain himself from rolling his eyes but his action is suddenly cut off by loud voices calling for Niall. 

“Niall, oh my god! You got the award for the most powerful couple in the school!” Sean exclaims excitedly. “They’ve never elected sophomores before. Nick Grimshaw is dying! He didn’t even make court.” 

Liam watches the exchange bemusedly and looks at Niall. “I just found out.” Niall explains. 

“Wait a minute, how did we win?” Liam asks. 

“You totally pulled the symphaty vote..but who cares? It’s like you guys are the bomb!” Sean tells Liam. 

Liam rolls his eyes and turns to look at Zayn and Zayn is suddenly wishing that the floor could swallow him from being there. “You hear that Zayn? We’re the bomb.” Liam says sarcastically. 

“Congratulations.” And yes, his reply is also sarcastic. 

 

**

 

“Well this is very encouraging, Liam.” Yasir says as he looks at the notes in his hands. “No indication in ICP issues. Your vision is good. No headaches to speak of and your right-side weakness is subsiding.” 

“Tell that to my right side.” Liam retorts. 

“Well, this is where medicine becomes more of an art than a science.” Yasir explains. “So far your brain has been able to reroute the pathways you used for walking and talking. I don’t know which repairs will take place next.” 

“You’re supposed to be the best but you can’t tell me when I’m supposed to get better?” 

“Liam.” Mrs. Payne interjects and Liam sighs at his mum’s tone. “He’s a little frustrated.”

Yasir scrunches his forehead as he studies the kid in front of him. “How have your moods been lately?” 

“Fine.” Liam replies shortly. 

“At first he wasn’t laughing much..” Mrs. Payne says but Liam cut her in. 

“My moods have been fine.” Liam snaps. 

“Well, your next full workup will be in a few weeks. You’ll probably be there for a couple of days.” Yasir says. 

“Can’t we stop these trips?” Liam asks as he shakes his head. 

“Well, we sprung you from the hospital earlier than we normally would. You’re in school already which is unusual for someone who’s undergone the kind of surgery you had so going back to the hospital is nonnegotiable.” 

Liam rolls his eyes and sighs. “Why don’t you give me a minute with your mum, okay?” Yasir asks and Liam obeys, starting to stand up and leave the room. Yasir turns to look at the woman in front of him as soon as Liam leaves. 

“Is there a problem?” 

Yasir sighs. “You know, my sense is that school is too much for Liam to process at this point. The social pressures, the demands on his memory, relearning old skills. That’s a lot for a kid to handle.” 

Mrs. Payne nods. “Of course there’s a period of adjustment. But it’s not different than say we move to another state and he starts in a new school.”

“Mrs. Payne, the differences between that scenario and Liam’s situation are profound.” 

“Right now, Liam needs to get on with his life.” Mrs. Payne replies stubbornly. 

Yasir sighs and leans back on his chair. “Okay. We’ll see you in two weeks.” 

Mrs. Payne nods and starts to head out of the room. Yasir stares at the Liam’s chart on his desk again and sighs. He just has a feeling that something is still wrong with Liam. 

 

**

 

“Don’t forget to write down the part where how much this thing sucks.” Louis says to Liam as they are all standing at the gym. Louis is in his basketball uniform while Liam and Niall are practicing for their homecoming dance. Niall rolls his eyes at his brother’s attitude. 

“So, Haynes is gonna have people after for pool and Xbox. He promised his hottie’s stepmom is gonna be there.” Louis says to Liam who is apparently too busy writing something in his little notepad. Niall smiles at the sight in front of him. 

Liam tilts his head to glance at Louis and shakes his head. “I can’t go.” 

Louis raises his eyebrows. “You have therapy tonight? Cause I can call your parent..” 

“Hey.” Zayn’s voice suddenly beside him and Niall turns to look at the boy. 

“Oh, hey. Just in time.” Liam greets Zayn and Niall watches both of them. “Look, Zayn is gonna take me to study for history test.” Liam says to Niall and Louis. 

“Oh.” Niall says. “Well, I could help too if you wanted.” He offers. 

“You know what, it’s cool. Will you tell Ms. R what my deal is?” Liam asks and Niall feels himself nods. “Sure.” He says. 

“Thanks.” Liam says to Niall and turns to look at Zayn. “Let’s go.” 

Niall watches as Liam and Zayn leave when Louis drapes his arm around Niall’s shoulder. “Remember when the three of us used to hang out?” 

Niall nods and hums in response. “When he came back, I thought it’d be more like that.” Louis continues. 

“Me too.” Niall mumbles quietly. 

 

**

 

“That’s it. Hit the showers.” The coach orders and all of the team members nod. Including Louis. He is about to turn around and leaves when the coach is calling his name. “Horan, see me first.”

Louis drags his feet as he walks towards his coach. “We need to talk.” The coach says and Louis raises his eyebrows. 

“Okay.” He replies shortly. 

“First, I just want to say I know you’ve been through a lot this year and I’m sympathetic. But I have to be honest with you. Your game is suspect right now.” 

Louis nods. “I know.” He admits. “It’s taking me a little while to get back into the groove.” 

“I can’t let you start. Not the first game anyway.” The coach says. 

“That’s not fair.” Louis fumes. 

“You’re forcing shots, you’re not playing with our offense, you’ve turned the ball over way too much.” 

“I’m trying! I just need to get my rhythm back without…” Liam, he wants to finish but he knows that both of the coach and himself understand what he means. “I just need to find my rhythm.” He continues. 

The coach stares at Louis. “We all miss Liam. He’s a good player with a lot of heart. But he’s not playing this year. We’re running a new offense and I hate to say it, but right now you’re throwing us off.” He pauses before he continues. “You want to keep talking about this?” 

Louis shakes his head furiously. “No.”

 

**

 

Zayn opens his laptop and sighs as he finds another sticky note on his screen. “What’s that?” Liam asks and Zayn shrugs without a care. 

“This is my father’s idea of being clever.” Zayn replies. 

Liam looks at the piece of paper and reads the name. “Matthew Lansing.” 

Zayn glances at Liam. “That sound like the name of a good piano teacher?” He asks. 

Liam shrugs. “How should I know?” 

“All right, the way I get a handle on dates.” Zayn starts as he flips the history notebook. “I make a list of all the events in chronological order. Then I memorize the list and kind of visualize it.” 

Liam snorts. “It’s a shame you’ve never been in a coma. You would have done great in rehab.” He comments.

Zayn chuckles at Liam’s dry humor and continues to point out at his notebook. “The chronology’s at the front of the chapter. Just copy down everything between 1860 and 1900.” He says before he starts to scribble down on his notepad. 

“You okay?” Zayn asks when Liam seems to space out. 

“Yeah. I’m just a little tired.” Liam says. 

“Oh. You want to take a break?” 

Liam looks at Zayn amusingly. “We haven’t done anything yet.” 

“All right, we’ll work for 15 minutes then reward ourselves with cold pizza.” 

“Cold pizza? Now that sounds horrible.” Liam says and smiles at Zayn’s nice attempt to not point out that he is weak at the moment. 

“You haven’t tried the warm stuff. It’s worse.” Zayn jokes and Liam chuckles before he starts to work on his study as well. 

They are in the middle of their study when Yasir calls out for his son and Zayn excuses himself. “Be right back.” He tells Liam. 

“Well, what should I do?” Liam asks. 

“Just start writing down those dates.” Zayn replies before he leaves. 

 

**

 

“What are you doing?” Zayn asks as soon as he steps out to his front porch and finds his father. 

“Just roof and gutter stuff.” Yasir replies. 

“What kind of stuff?” 

“Maintenance stuff. I need you to hand me some things while I’m up on the ladder.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “You sure that’s wise?”

“Just humor me.” 

Zayn shakes his head and opens the door slightly. “Liam, we’ll be right back.” He calls out and closes the door. 

“Liam’s here?” 

“Yeah, you want to say hi?” 

“Ah, in just a minute.” Yasir says and looks at his son. “So how do you think he’s doing?” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “I’m his friend. Not his shrink. I’m just helping him to study for a test.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “A test?” 

“Yeah, we have a history class together.” 

“Well, Zayn, Liam hasn’t progressed nearly enough in rehab to be thinking about tests. He still needs lists to remember the name of his family and friends.” 

Zayn feels his stomach dreads. “But he said he wants to take it..” He trails off. 

Yasir shakes his head. “It’s a bad idea. It’s gonna frustrate him.”

“He asked me to help him.” Zayn says. 

Yasir sighs. “Okay. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think helping him study for a test is gonna do any good. He shouldn't even be in school.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “What should I do? Tell him to forget it? Tell him to just give up, not try? I mean, everyone’s got bad news for the guy. He wants to do this. He wants to take a stupid test. So, I’m gonna help him.” 

 

**

 

“Mr. Malik, keep going like this and you could give average a run for its money.” The teacher says as she gives Zayn his marked test paper and Zayn mumbles a quiet thanks. He then looks as the teacher goes to Liam’s desk and waits nervously. 

“A fine effort, Mr. Payne.” The teacher says as she passes the paper to Liam and Zayn is deadly curious about Liam’s marks. He peeks a little and catches the sight of Liam’s test mark. 

“Nice one, dude. Next time you’re gonna have to help me out.” Zayn comments. 

Liam just shrugs. “Yeah. Hey, will you check yours against mine?” Liam asks as he hands his paper to Zayn and Zayn reaches for it. As soon as he puts down both of his and Liam paper on the table, he knows something is wrong. Liam’s paper is barely answered and yet he gets an ‘A’ while Zayn only gets ‘C+.’ Zayn knows that the teacher is trying to help Liam but this is just way too much to accept. Liam would not accept this, Zayn knows that. But he doesn’t have the heart to tell Liam the truth so he just smiles slight as he returns Liam’s paper. “Okay, I’m an idiot.” Zayn lies and tries to tell Liam that he’s done a better job than Zayn. 

Liam shakes his head. “No, you’re not.” He knows Zayn is lying. 

 

**

 

“Almost ready, Louis?” Bobby asks. 

“For what?” Louis answers quietly. 

Bobby enters the living room only to find his eldest son on the couch, watching some cartoons and he raises his eyebrows. “The game starts in less than an hour.” He says. 

Louis shrugs. “I don’t think they care at what time the non-playing players get there.” 

“Yeah, well. The bench is an integral part of the team.” Bobby says. 

Louis rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah. A part of the other makes fun of.” 

Bobby shakes his head and reaches for the remote control in Louis’s hand. “I will still cheer for you just as much if you score coming in off the bench as if you started.” He says as he switches off the television once he gets the remote control. 

“If I score.” Louis says. “Ever since Liam’s been gone, I’ve sucked.” Louis admits. 

Bobby sighs and sits beside his son. “Is that what you think?” 

“Liam’s there, I’m starting. Liam’s not, I’m on the bench.” 

Bobby stares at his son before he speaks up again. “You miss him.” He states. 

Louis doesn't deny his father’s statement. “We were like our own team within a team, you know? Michael and Scottie except for..shorter..and whiter.”

Bobby smiles. “Well, if Michael fouled out, Scottie didn’t just stop playing, did he?” 

Louis’s eyes go wide at that and he smiles at his father. “I guess not.” 

Bobby pats Louis’s shoulder and squeezes it comfortingly. “You know, it’s okay for you to be good without him.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“It’s a difficult transition to make.” 

Louis shrugs. “Well, things will be better as soon as he gets back to his old self.” He says, trying to be optimistic about his best friend’s condition. 

Bobby nods. “And thus, grab your coat. Let’s go. Come on.” 

 

**

 

Yasir tiptoes as he grabs Zayn’s bad which is hanging on the chair at the kitchen is about to paste another sticky note when suddenly Harry’s voice greets him.

“HI dad!” Harry greets cheerfully and Yasir almost jumps out of shock. 

“Oh, Hazza, you scared me. You okay?” 

Harry shrugs and heads to the fridge. “I just wanted some milk.” 

“Milk?” 

Harry nods. “Yeah. And maybe a cookie or two.” 

“Well, you know you’re gonna eat at the game.” Yasir says.

“I know.” Harry replies. “But I want to get there fully stocked. We might not eat till halftime.” He continues as he pouring down the milk in the glass. He glances at his father’s hand and spots the sticky note. “Another piano teacher?” He asks. 

“Yeah. It’s not going well, getting Zayn to call one of these teachers.” 

Harry rolls his eyes. “Why don’t you just make him do it?” 

Yasir shakes his head. “You know Hazza, when parents do that, kids resent it.” 

Harry bites his first cookie and shaking his head at the same time. “Mom would have just yelled at him.” He says.

Yasir raises his eyebrows disbelievingly. “No way.” 

Harry grins widely until his dimple is showing. “Yes way.” He nods. 

“Mom yelled at Zayn? Really?” Yasir asks. He didn’t know that. 

“All the time.” 

“Did she yell at you too?” 

Harry shakes his head. “Not as much but I’m easier to handle.” Harry says and Yasir laughs out loud at that comment. 

 

**

 

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, your Peak County Miners!” The announcer shouts into the microphone and Niall peeks his head to see the team. He cheers loudly as soon as see the team and smiles at the sight. He starts to enjoy the game once it starts but when the game is almost over, he just realized that Liam is not there in the audience. He looks around for the second time and still couldn’t find Liam in the crowd. 

 

**

 

“Zayn, why is the Horan kid keep waving at you?” Yasir asks and Zayn turns his head to look at the direction where his father points at. 

“He’s not.” Zayn replies, turning his head to look back at the game. But it turns out wrong when Louis yells for his name.

“Yo, Malik! Get over here!” Louis demands and Zayn rolls his eyes. “He probably needs help counting the points.” Zayn says to his father before he stands up to walk towards Louis. 

“Where’s Liam?” Louis asks as soon as Zayn reaches the older guy. 

“How should I know?” Zayn quips. 

Louis rolls his eyes. “You’re like his bestfriend now. You don’t know where he is?” 

Zayn ignores Louis’s sassiness and rolls his eyes as well. “You _are_ his best friend and you don’t know where he is?” 

“Whatever.” Louis waves his hand dismissively at Zayn. “Just go find him, would you? The homecoming thing starts at the half. It’s like five minutes. If he’s not here, Niall is going to freak out.” He says as he looks at Zayn. 

“Why don’t you go find him?” Zayn replies stubbornly. 

“Because I’m on the team.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “Is that what they call this wooden plank?” 

Louis huffs in annoyance and pushes Zayn out of the seat. “Just go find him. The coach said he saw him come in. He’s around here somewhere. Go find him.” Louis orders before he turns to look at the game again, ignoring Zayn’s presence. 

Zayn shakes his head at Louis’s bossiness but stands up nonetheless. He will find Liam and drags his ass back into the court so that Louis would not bossing him around anymore. 

 

** 

 

The parking lot, or more accurately, in his own truck that Zayn is finally finds Liam and he knocks on the window. Liam opens the lock and Zayn gets into the car, staring at Liam who is too silent for his liking. 

“You alright man?” Zayn asks. 

“I’m fine.” Liam replies shortly. 

Zayn nods. “What are you doing?” 

“Nothing.” 

Zayn clears his throat before he speaks up again. “Your big moment is minutes away.” 

Liam shakes his head sadly. “It’s not my moment.” He says and smiles sadly as he looks at Zayn. “You know in rehab there was this other TBI named Bob.”

“What’s T..?”

“Traumatic Brain injury patient.” Liam replies before Zayn finishes with the question. “He insists that everyone calls him Bob the Second. He keeps saying that everyone’s talking to him like he’s some guy named Bob, which he isn’t. So he wanted another name. But then decided it’d be easier on his friends and family if, which were all strangers to him, to call him Bob the Second. He hated it.”

“We should get back inside.” Zayn says because what else is he supposed to say? Say that everything is going to be alright? Because both of them know that’s not the case here. 

Liam ignores Zayn’s suggestion and keeps talking. “You know I do remember one or two things. It’s not from last year. It’s from when I was younger. When I was 5 and we had this apartment. It had one of those garbage chutes that you send your trash down outside in the hallway. My mom used to lete me put the trash in it.” 

Zayn smiles and nods. “We had one of those in London.” 

“For days after I got home, I looked for that trash chute. I couldn’t find it. I didn’t know if I had made it up or if I dreamed of it.” Liam says frustratingly. 

“It’s gonna get better.” Zayn finally says. 

“You don’t know that.” Liam snaps and grits his teeth, angry with the universe, angry with everyone and mostly angry with himself for losing his memory. 

“Why don’t you just walk through the ceremony and leave right afterwards and go hang out somewhere.” Zayn tries again. 

Liam shakes his head. “Can’t find my list.” 

“What list?”

“The list of things I’m supposed to do. Which side of Niall I’m supposed to stand on, when to leave the floor, where to sit.” 

“Niall will help you.” Zayn says. 

“I don’t want help!” Liam suddenly yells. 

Zayn swallows nervously. “Okay.” 

Liam mumbles a quiet apology. “I had the list. It was in my pocket. I lost it. So I came out here to look for it in the truck.” 

Zayn nods. “We’ll find it. Turn on the light.” Zayn says as he reaching out to switch on the light. 

“Don’t!” Liam says but it’s too late. Zayn already turns on the light and that when he sees it. Liam’s hand is bleeding and the window on Liam’s side is broken. How could he not noticed it sooner?

“What happened?” Zayn asks. 

Liam shrugs. “It was locked. Couldn’t get in.” He replies simply. 

Zayn opens the car’s door quickly. “I’ll get my dad.” He tells Liam before he sprints towards the court. 

 

**

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first game of the season!” The announcement is loud and clear and Niall bites his lips nervously. 

“What if something happened to him?” Niall asks Louis as they both standing in the line for the next event. 

“Nothing happened. He’s fine.” Louis assures. 

“Well then, where is he?” Niall asks his older brother because as far as he knows, it is supposed to be Liam who’s standing besides him at the moment, not Louis. Louis shakes his head slightly and Niall feels his heart shatters.

The announcer voice is hitting right through Niall’s ear as he speaks. “I now have the honor of presenting the next award elected by their peers. And you have chosen well. Let me say on a personal note, that the courage and the steadfastness of this year’s couple could be used as an example for us all. Well, without further delay, I am proud to present to you, Niall Horan and Liam Payne!"

Niall can feel all of eyes are on him as the spotlight is directed towards him and he stands still, alone, at the start of the stage. He feels numb. He wants to curl up and die or just die. Or just cry. He doesn’t know. 

Louis feels his heart breaks as he sees Niall’s face and decides to be a good brother for once. So he steps out from the curtain behind the stage and grabs Niall’s hand. 

“What are you doing?” Niall whispers as he turns to look at his older brother and Louis just shrugs. “Standing in.” Louis replies shortly. 

“I can’t go up there right now without Liam.” Niall admits, his voice is raspy, probably because he is holding back his tears but Louis just wrap his arm tighter. 

“It’s okay. We’re in this together.” Louis says and leads Niall to walk out to the stage. Everyone is silent at first but once they reach the center of the stage, their father starts to clap, followed by everyone. 

Niall swallows a big lump in his throat as he accepts the award, alone and he leans towards Louis. “Thanks, Lou.” He whispers sadly. 

 

**

 

“Yeah, it was weird. You know, I was just jimmying the lock and the window just shattered.” Liam explains as Yasir wraps his hand with bandage. 

Yasir nods. “Most cars have shatterproof glass these days.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was the cold.” Liam says. “Lucky for me, Zayn was out taking a stroll in a parking lot.” 

“You’re not taking up smoking, are you?” Yasir asks. “If you are, could you tell me about it next week?” He asks, glancing at Zayn’s direction. 

Zayn shakes his head. “Just out for some air.” 

Yasir seems satisfy with the answer as he finishes bandaging Liam’s hand. “Okay, all set. How’s it feel?” 

Liam looks at his hand. “Fine.” 

“Why don’t you come by my office tomorrow and I’ll take a better look at it? If it bothers you tonight, you can call me at home.” 

“Thanks doc. It must be easier than the last time you stitched me up.” 

Yasir nods and smiles. “Little bit.” 

“Well, I better get back.” Liam says and starts to stand up. “Thank again, doc.” He says before he leaves the nurse station at the school. 

Yasir waits until Liam leaves the room before he turns to look at Zayn who is apparently chosen to keep silence during the whole time with Liam being in the same room. “So, what happened really?” 

“Came outside and he’d already cut himself.” Zayn replies truthfully. “Went and got you.” 

“How have his moods been when you’re with him?” 

“Okay.” 

Yasir nods. “You know with injury like Liam’s, patients can behave unpredictably sometimes..”

“He’s not my patient, Dad.” Zayn cuts his father in. 

“Okay, you’re right. Let’s get back to the game.” Yasir says. 

“Or maybe we could just go home?” Zayn suggests. 

Yasir shakes his head. “You brother is pretty engrossed in the game, I think. You’d have to pry that foam finger from his cold dead hands.” 

Zayn sighs. “Okay, you go. I’ll just meet you in the parking lot afterwards.” 

Yasir stares at Zayn for a moment. “You okay, Zayn?” 

“Yeah. It’s just..basketball is not really my thing.” He lies. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” 

 

**

 

“Nice shot.” Bobby praises himself as he dunks the ball into the basket and Louis snorts. 

“Yeah, not bad for an old man.” Louis teases. “I was gonna say ‘nerd’ but…” 

Bobby laughs. “You made me proud tonight.” He says as he looks at his son. They are the only two left in the empty court and playing around with the basketball. 

Louis grins. “Yeah. My game’s a little better, isn’t it?” He recalls on when the announcer says his name to replace one of his teammates and Louis walked into the court with a high spirit. He didn't know how and when but he was the one who scored after that and they had won the game earlier. 

Bobby smiles. “That too.” He says and pauses. “But what I meant is what you did for your little brother.” 

Louis bumps the ball before dunks it into the basket as he speaks. “Well, what was I gonna do? He’s my brother.” 

Bobby nods and he knows how proud he is at his eldest son. “So, how was it being out there again without Liam?” 

Louis shrugs. “It felt good, you know. I was able to get into the game. For a few minutes there, I even forgot about him.” He admits. “Is that just messed up?” 

Bobby shakes his head. “No. No.” 

“When he was gone, I totally missed him, you know? Now he’s back and..”

“You miss him still.” 

Louis nods. “Yeah. Niall too, I suspect.” He says before he continues. “I want to punch him for what he did tonight.” 

“No. It’s not Liam’s fault. Nor is it Niall’s nor yours. You know I’m not saying that you shouldn’t stay close to Liam, but things have changed.” Bobby says. “You and Niall are gonna have to figure this out.” 

 

**

 

Zayn has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes as he spot both Niall and Liam talking quietly near the locker area and he prays hard that both of them won’t notice him as he passes by. 

“Zayn. Hey man, your dad was awesome last night.” Liam greets and Zayn swears he won’t wish anything from God again. “I was just telling Niall how he stitched me up in no time.” 

Zayn nods silently as he opens his locker’s door while Liam continues talking. “I appreciate what you did for me too.” 

Zayn smiles slightly at Liam. “No worries.” He says at the same time the bell rings. 

Liam waves both Niall and Zayn off. “Gotta go blow something up in chem class.” He says before he leaves Niall and Zayn alone. 

Niall turns to look at Zayn and leans on the locker. “You know I should probably thank you too.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “For what? All I did was taken him to the nurse’s office. You can call off the Noble committee.” He says sarcastically. 

Niall seems to fall into silence and doesn’t respond to Zayn’s sarcastic remarks as usual and Zayn looks at the boy. “What?” 

Niall shakes his head. “It’s just weird to think that he could hurt himself, you know? It just kind of makes you wonder if maybe..”

Zayn slams his locker’s door shut before he turns to look at Niall. “Niall, it was an accident. All right? My dad stitched him up. He’s gonna be fine. It won’t happen again. And the power couple can continue their reign,” 

Niall rolls his eyes and shakes his head.“All that stuff is so dumb.” 

“Is it?” Zayn asks, of course with a sarcastic tone. 

“Come on, it’s the 21st century.” 

“It’s tradition. People like traditions. It makes them feel safe, you know. Thinks that some things don’t change.” Zayn says as he looks straight into Niall’s eyes. Niall doesn’t seem to break the eye contact until another student slams his locker and they both break their staring contest. 

“See you.” Niall mumbles quietly before he turns around and leaves Zayn. Zayn mumbles his quiet “see you” too before he turns around, heading towards the opposite direction from Niall. 

 

**

 

“I’m going up my room to study.” Zayn announces as he spots his father in front on the door once he reaches home. 

Yasir shakes his head. “No, your plans have changed.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “I’m not really in the mood to work on our father-son communication skills right now.” 

“Me neither. So this will be a one-way conversation. Your new piano teacher is waiting for you in the living room and I want you go in there, sit down and get reacquainted with that instrument.” 

“I told you..”

“One-way.” Yasir cuts his son before Zayn can finish. “Now, he’s Julliard-educated. He lives nearby. He called your old teached and based upon that conversation, plus a few additional pounds I decided to throw in, he has agreed to drive here once a week. Now, you have a gift. And you’ve been letting it atrophy. And I’m not gonna standby and let that happen anymore.” 

“What gives you right to lecture me about my gift? You left yours in London.” Zayn retors stubbornly. 

Yasir shrugs. “Well, that may be true but this conversation isn’t about me. You’re too young to be so responsible for your talent. And If I can help you without hurting you, I’m gonna do that. That’s what father’s do.” He says and pauses. “I think.” He continues. “And if in a few years you come to me and say ‘piano is not my thing’ then fine. You can quit. But I hope you won’t. Now if you choose not to respond to my parental authority, I should warn you that I have mind-altering drugs in the other room and I’m not afraid to use it.” 

 

**

 

Zayn enters the living room with a frown and spots a figure standing near the back. Once the figure turns around, Zayn smiles. He feels like he knows the guy somewhere. “Jonathan Keys.” The guy says and extends his hand for Zayn to shake. 

“Zayn Malik.” Zayn says and extends his hand as well. 

“Play something for me, Zayn.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “Like what?” 

Jonathan shrugs. “Whatever you want. That ought to tell me what I need to know.” 

Zayn nods and takes his seat in front of his piano and starts to play. He starts slow, trying to get the hold of the instrument again but suddenly it comes naturally at him. He smiles as he starts to play the music that he really loves to and suddenly he feels at peace by playing the piano. And for a moment, he is lost in his playing, which is just him and the piano and he doesn’t even thinking about anything at all. Including Niall.


	15. The Ski Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the late update. Anyway, enjoy. :)

Louis kisses his date during half of the movie as they are no one around them in the cinema while Niall and Liam are awkwardly watching it, both of their faces set in stone and Niall couldn’t help but resents his brother at the moment. Because it was Louis idea to ‘hang out’ at the cinema at the first place. And Niall couldn’t be more grateful when the movie ends and they move to the diner to eat. Foods make him happy and in this case, he wouldn’t have to see his brother snogs again. 

“I like hanging out with your brother. He doesn’t have a lot of facial hair so I can kiss him for a long time without breaking out.” And Niall could only shudders and rolls his eyes as his brother’s date keeps talking about Louis, doesn’t even realize that Niall is the little brother who doesn’t want to know about his big brother’s facial hair, thank you very much. 

“Yeah, I saw.” Niall quips sarcastically, hoping that the guy catches his uninterested tone. 

“Well, it was a really long movie.” The guy says and Niall feels like he wants to bang his head on the table because apparently, the guys doesn’t have a clue about Niall’s hostility. “I hope that wasn’t weird for you or anything because it looks like you and Liam haven’t even kissed since his whole..” 

Niall fake-cough out loud as soon as he spots two familiar figures who are walking towards their table. Liam and Louis. Niall silently prays that the guy will shut up before his brother and Liam reach their table. “Hey guys!” Niall shouts loudly, startles the guy and he stops talking. Thank God, Niall mutters in his head. 

“Here we go.” Louis says as he puts the tray on the table and sit in front of his date and Liam takes a seat in front of Niall. 

“Please, about to eat.” Niall quips again as both his brother and his date leans closer to kiss over table. He rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Liam. “Oh no, you don’t like garlic.” Niall says as he looks at Liam’s hand which is about to reach the garlic on top of the pizza. 

“I guess we’ll soon find out.” Liam says and shrugs. “It does smell good.” He says as he takes out a slice of his pizza and smells it. 

Louis makes a choking noise as he pulls out his pizza from his mouth. “I hate it when they reheat the pizza. When you take a reheat it’s like saying: Yes, I want you to burn the top of my mouth off. I’m flicking skin off the roof of my mouth for the next three days.”

Niall ignores his brother and looks at Liam as the guy in front of him suddenly looks blank and lost. “Liam, you okay?” 

Liam glances around and frowns as he looks at Niall afterward. “I’ve been here before.” He says. 

Niall smiles in relief. “Of course. You used to come here all the time.” 

Liam shakes his head. “No, I mean. I remember this place. I remember coming here.” He says and his voice raises an octave. Then he looks at Louis. “We had just won a basketball game. It was a division championship.” 

Louis grins widely. “Yeah we did.” 

Liam feels encouraged by this and starts to talk again. “Yeah and you and I, we came here after we won the game and then I went and played pinball over there…” Liam recalls and then turns to look at Niall. “And you were here. You…yeah, I remember you were here with us.”

Niall forces a smile and shakes his head. “No no. That wasn’t me.”

Liam frowns. “No, you were sitting right over there on that table. You had your red jacket on.” He insists. 

Niall forces a smile again. “That wasn’t me. That was Jamie.” 

Louis glances between Liam and Niall and he knows Liam is struggling, but to see his best friend like this, trying so hard to remember, it breaks Louis’s heart. 

“No..I..” Liam stammers and sighs. “Are you sure?” 

Niall nods and smiles at Liam again. “That’s okay. Of course you’d remember your brother first.” 

Louis feels his heart breaks a little for Niall too, because he knows Niall is hoping that Liam can remember him. “Dude, you’re remembering, that’s awesome.” He says as he pats Liam’s shoulder. 

Liam mumbles a quiet, “yeah” and looks at Niall. Niall tries his best to maintain his poker face because damn, it hurts that Liam still can’t remember him. And both of them are left in silence for the rest of the meal. 

 

**

 

Zayn enters his father’s office and walks towards the entrance only to spot an unfamiliar face at the front desk. “You waiting for Dr. Malik?” He asks as he approaches the figure. And then he realizes something. “Are those patient files?” 

The figure who still has his back to Zayn, just shrugs. “Not very interesting ones.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re supposed to be look at them.” 

“Well then Dr. Malik shouldn’t probably keep people waiting unattended.” The figure says and he turns around. Zayn glances at the boy and couldn’t help but one word comes into his mind. Beautiful. 

“Well, I think that’s why they have magazines.” Zayn says and before he could say any further, the door of his father’s examination room open and Liam comes out with a short, “hey.” 

Zayn turns around and greets Liam back. “hey.” 

“So I see you’ve met my brother.” Liam says as he looks at Zayn. 

Zayn nods. “Yeah, I guess. He didn’t really say much.” 

Liam nods, agreeing with Zayn. “yeah, that’s sort of his thing. I’ve only known him for the last three weeks when he came back from boarding school. He seems pretty cool so far.” 

Zayn listens half-heartedly as his eyes couldn’t help but heading towards the boy. He looks younger than Liam but he has the uniqueness about him that Zayn seems to attract to. 

“I think he starts going to our school next week.” Liam adds. 

Zayn nods again. “Lucky him.” He says, of course sarcastically. His eyes meet with Jamie’s and the other boy smiles at him before turns to walk out from the clinic. That’s when Zayn turns to look at Liam again. 

Liam chuckles at Zayn’s action but doesn’t call Zayn out of it. “Hey, you know that Catolic church youth-group ski thing this weekend? Are you going to that?” Liam asks. 

Zayn raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “I hadn’t really given it much thought. As you see, I don’t ski and I’m not Catholic.” 

“Yeah, right. I can’t ski either. Your dad’s got this blanket rule about avoiding head trauma but you know Niall really wants me to go and I’m going to need somebody to hang out on the slopes with me.” 

Zayn smiles. “I don’t suppose you’d believe I had huge weekend plans.” He states as he looks at Liam. 

Liam laughs and shrugs. “Well, think about it. But remember, you’re abandoning me to suffer alone.” 

 

**

 

“Of course, Liam’s excited about the ski trip. I mean, come on, aren’t you?” Niall asks as they set up the dining table at their house for the dinner. 

“Sure. Plus, my friend with benefit is going too. I’m going where the cock goes.” Louis replies.

Niall shudders and looks at Louis. “Later in life, when I’m in therapy, you’d be able to take most of the credit.” 

Louis chuckles before he stops and looks at Niall seriously. “Well, all I’m saying is, you can’t expect it to be like last year. Liam’s remembering a lot, sure but..” 

“He’s remembering more than a lot.” Niall cuts Louis off. “He’s not walking around with Post-its anymore and he’s making jokes again. Last year he asked me to be his boyfriend there. Going back can fill all the pieces.”

“Going back where?” Bobby asks as he hears the last of Niall’s words when he enters the dining room and looks at both of his sons. “Knife inside, Louis.” 

Louis ignores his father and shrugs. “The church ski trip.” Niall replies for both of them. 

Bobby shakes his head. “Oh no, you’re not going on that again.” 

Niall drops the napkin that he’s been folding before as he looks incredulously at his father. “What?” 

Bobby just shakes his head again. “No. No. Those church trips are nothing of the kind. They’re supervised about as well as a stampede.” 

Niall shakes his head, as if he’s still processing on his father’s words. “Why not?” 

“I have to go, Dad!” Louis pipes in. “It’s a church thing. It’s to cleanse my soul.” He adds. 

Bobby snorts. “Oh, please. I delivered the baby that was the product of last year’s bacchanal. Just an excuse for your friends to drink and exchange hickeys. Do more damage to the Catholic church’s reputation than the crusades. I don’t think so.” 

“You make a good point, Dad.” Niall says and Bobby looks at his son disbelievingly. 

“Do I?” He asks Niall. 

Niall nods. “Definitely. The ski trip should be fun but it should also have structure.” He says as he looks at his father. “What the church could really use is a good chaperon. Last year all the parents went to bed early and let the kids do whatever that they wanted. But if they had someone who was more capable, more respectable, more conscientious..” 

“Would that they should be so lucky.” Bobby beams. “Then again, maybe it would be useful for these permissive boomer-generation non-parents to see how it’s done.” 

Niall just nods encouragingly at his father before Bobby finally turns to leave the dining room. “I’ll call the youth center now.”

Once their father leave, Niall looks at Louis and the elder one just shaking his head at the younger one’s sneakiness. “Good job, Nialler.” 

 

**

 

Zayn turns around after he paid for the takeaway foods at the diner when someone calls out for him. “Hey Zayn.” He then spots the source of the voice, and finds Liam at one of the booths. With Niall. Niall doesn’t look too happy to see him so he just waves Liam off when Liam beckons for him to come to their booth. “I just got dinner for my family. I don’t want it to get cold.” He says, hoping that Liam would buy his excuse.

“Dude, tell your dad it’s my fault. Come on, sit down.” Liam says. “Come on.” Zayn sighs as he finally heads toward the booth and sits in front of Liam. 

Niall tries to keep his composure in front of both Liam and Zayn and looks down at his drink. Then he hears Liam asks Zayn, “If you go on the ski trip, would you bring your comics collection? Apparently, there’s a long bus ride involved.” 

Niall shots his heads up and looks at Zayn. “What, you’re thinking about coming now?” He asks. 

Zayn shrugs. “I was thinking about it.” 

Liam shakes his head. “Come on. From what Niall said man, it’s like a nonstop party.” He tells Zayn. 

“Oh well that was last year before my dad decided to be the official wet blanket.” Niall says, hoping that Zayn gets the hint that he doesn’t want Zayn and Liam to be in the same place, thank you very much. Zayn is about to reply when a waitress come with the bill and Liam excuses himself to pay for it.

“You know what, Zayn. You don’t have to go just because Liam asked you.” Niall says as soon as Liam leaves the table. 

“Well, is there a problem?” Zayn asks, annoyed with Niall’s attitude. 

“Don’t you think it’d be weird?” 

“Not any more than usual.” 

Niall sighs. “It’s one thing when the three of us have lunch together at school but three days in the mountains? That gives him a lot of time to figure out..”

“Figure out what? That there was something between us? Because from the way that I’m standing, the only thing that we have together is honors chemistry.” 

“I think we’re pushing it.” 

Zayn snorts. “You want me to bow out?” 

“It’s not like you even wanted to go.” Niall deadpans. 

“I just get a coma-boy discount.” Liam announces as soon as he gets back to the table, not sensing the tension in the air and keeps talking. “I just gave him a blank face and he felt bad so he gave us the fries for free.” 

Zayn smiles at Liam. “You know, I was thinking about it. Maybe I should come with you guys this weekend. I mean, it’s not like there’s anything going on here, right?” The last bit, Zayn says it while he looks at Niall. 

“Cool.” Liam says before he turns to look at Niall. “Maybe you can score it so your dad can get Zayn and I to room together.” 

Niall curses Zayn, inside his head of course before he forces a smile on his face. “Sure. I’ll ask him.” 

 

**

 

“We gotta get going. Bus leaves the church at 6.” Yasir says as he spots Zayn at their kitchen. “Which is exactly why I’m not Catholic.” He adds before he looks at his son. “Since when do you ski anyway?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Since I bought my Gore-Tex gloves yesterday.” He says sarcastically as he fills in his backpack with things to bring to the trip. 

“So, why are you going?” Yasir asks, curious. 

“It’s a power move.” Zayn replies shortly. 

Yasir nods. “Okay.” Then, “what?” 

“Niall doesn’t want me to go. If I don’t go because of him, it’s all about him. Worse, he’ll know it’s all about him. But if I do go, it’s all about me too. So we’re even again. Or at least close.” Zayn explains. 

“You know I think I actually followed that.” 

Zayn groans. “You weren’t supposed to.” 

“I should ask you questions before coffee more often.” Yasir deadpans and Zayn rolls his eyes at his father. 

 

**

 

“I thought the double run of Liza with the Z was punishment enough.” Zayn says as he looks at the list in his hand and Liam chuckles beside him. 

Niall sees his boyf..okay, Liam with Zayn starts to walk towards them, totally ignoring Zayn’s presence. “Hey, Liam. When you’re done checking in, you wanna go for a walk with me?” 

“Oh I think Zayn and I, we’re gonna check out the pool.” Liam says and Niall tries to hide his disappointment but Zayn sees it anyway. 

“Nah, it’s cool. Everybody’s head up to the mountain. It’s time I look into this skiing thing anyway, right?”

Liam raises his eyebrows. “Are you sure?” 

Zayn waves Liam off. “Yeah. See you guys later.” He says and looks at Niall for the first time that day and Niall smiles gratefully at him. 

 

** 

 

Niall smiles at the beautiful sight of the mountain before he turns around to look at Liam. “Smell. The cold smells like pine or the pine smells like cold. Something.” He rambles. 

Liam smiles and stands beside him, as Niall turns around to see the view again. “Yeah I like it.” Liam says and Niall smiles happily. 

“I knew you would.” He says and glances at Liam. “Last year there was a lot more snow but..” 

“Look, can you do me a favor?” Liam cuts Niall’s off. “Can we just not mention last year or last anything? I mean I was kind of hoping to take a break and rest my mind this weekend.” 

Niall feels his stomach drops and forces a smile as he nods at Liam. “Yeah. Sure. Definitely.” He says like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do, when in reality, it is not. He turns around again and trying to avoid to look at Liam, pretending that his hearts just doesn’t break again and tries not to crumble in front of Liam. 

“So where do you think Louis and his boyfriend are?” Liam asks, changing the topic. 

Niall shrugs. “Probably groping at each other on a gondola.” He says and Liam chuckles. That makes Niall smiles, at least Liam seems to enjoy his lame jokes, right? 

“Yeah, he was pretty bent on trying new territories this weekend.” Liam says. “You think it’ll happen?” 

Niall scrunches his nose. “I try very hard not to think about my brother’s sex life.” He deadpans and Liam laughs at him. And for Niall, that’s enough for now because at least Liam is still standing besides him. 

Liam keeps rambling about Louis and when he says, “just goes to show that you never can tell about some people.” 

Niall tilts his head to his right to look at Liam. “Are you trying to ask me something Liam?” Niall asks, hoping that finally Liam can remember something about the place. About how he asked Niall to be his boyfriend. 

“No.” Liam replies quickly. “Well, I mean I..” He stammers. “Well, I don’t know about like what you and I..I mean did we ever..?” 

Niall feels his cheeks blush and shakes his head fondly at Liam’s adorable nervous action. “No. No we didn’t.” Niall says. “You haven’t. But uh, we did an awful lot of kissing.” He adds as he steps closer to Liam. 

“Were we any good at it?” Liam asks teasingly. 

Niall shrugs and smiles. “Okay, I guess. I mean, could use some work but..I suppose I could instruct you.” He says seductively. 

Liam grins and leans closer to Niall. “Well, maybe we could make that part of my rehab.” 

Niall grins widely and he lands his lips on Liam’s and they start to kiss. When they pull away, Niall smiles widely. “Wow, that was even better than last year.” He says. “It started to snow and you said that if I didn’t kiss you, you’d never forgive me.” He says absent-mindedly before he realizes his mistakes when Liam turns his head away. “I’m sorry.” Niall apologizes and curses himself for being so stupid. “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“I asked you to stop.” Liam says, starting to get angry. 

“You’re the one who brought it up. You asked me what we used to do.” Niall tries to defend himself. 

Liam shakes his head. “That was different.” He says. “I was just trying to figure out where we stood.” 

Niall bits his lips in frustration. “I’m sorry. I won’t mention it again.” He says sincerely. 

Liam huffs and glares at Niall. “You know, you keep expecting me to be this guy you knew.” 

“Liam, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.” 

“Well, won’t you get it through your head that he’s gone?” Liam spits as he stares straight into Niall’s eyes. “He’s dead, Niall.” Liam says and Niall flinches at his harshness. “There’s only me.” He adds before he leaves Niall alone. 

 

**

 

“I think I’ll miss the Olympics this year.” Liam says. “Apparently I was a badass skier in my days.”

Zayn chuckles. “Apparently you were badass at everything. That’s what everybody talk about while you were..errr..”

“A big drool machine?” 

“I was gonna say ‘recovering’ but okay.” Zayn shrugs. “You know, you’re the only guy I know who’s so dark, it turns me into an optimist. It’s kind of scary.” 

Liam smiles. “Dark, huh? That’s a polite way of putting it.” 

Zayn laughs and both of them fall into silence before Liam starts to speak up again. “Yeah, I sort of blew up at Niall today. He took me to a great spot on top of the hill over there.” He points out. “I mean, you could see everything. And then I kissed him.” 

Zayn feels his heart drops and he tries to control himself with a force smile. “Well, that sounds nice.”

“Yeah, it was our first kiss.” Liam says and pauses. “Well, it was my first kiss. But then he started talking about the way things used to be and I just lost it.” 

“He missed you. I mean, it’s got to be hard for him.” 

Liam nods. “Yeah, I know. Mate, you have no idea how frustrating it is. You know, I’m totally grateful to him. I mean, he’s been my…you know when you’re playing tag or capture the flag and there’s that certain spot where they can’t tag you out? It’s a…”

“Home base.” Zayn finishes for Liam. 

“Yeah. That’s what he’s been.” Liam says before he continues. “And all he wanted from me was to pull out one stupid memory to let him know that I didn’t lose him. I did. I haven’t got anything. I can’t even give him that.”

Zayn is left stunned when Liam finishes and excuses himself. Zayn can only watch at Liam’s retreating figure and he feels bad. Feels bad for Liam. And also for Niall. 

 

**

 

Zayn stares at the fire in front of him as he listens to the music when suddenly he feels someone throwing a snowball at him. “Hey!” He shouts to the figure, who turns out to be Jamie. 

“Mind if I join you?” Jamie asks. 

Zayn smiles. “He speaks.” 

“He sits.” 

“He cracks jokes. Who knew?” 

Jamie just laughs and Zayn turns to look at the person beside him. “So how come you’re not out partying?” Zayn asks. 

Jamie shrugs. “Happy people depress me. Drunk happy people make me wanna slit my wrists.” 

“I thought you were part of the who’s who the heir to cool and all.” 

Jamie laughs and shakes his head. “You go for a few months to boarding school and it’s pretty much ‘out of sight, out of clique’.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “You didn’t want to go?” 

“Well, it was all my parents’ doing. I mean after Liam’s accident…” Jamie says and pauses. “It’s kind of hard to explain.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “You don’t have to. You had to parent them, right?” He says understandingly. 

“How do you know?” 

“My mom died in a car accident. It was almost a year ago now. I kind of had to parent my little brother for a while. Left my dad to fend for himself.” Zayn explains. 

Jamie smiles softly as he looks at Zayn. “How did he do?” 

“Not great. Better.” 

Jamie nods, looking at Zayn for a moment before he turns to look at the space in front of him. “Yeah, in a way I kind of lost my parents in Liam’s accident. I mean, not in the way you did. But they shattered after Liam crashed. And after that, all their focus was on him getting better. So sending me away was the best they could do. I mean they said that it was so I could have a normal life and be surrounded by friends but..I get it.” 

“That’s harsh.” Zayn says symphatetically. 

Jamie forces a smile as he looks at Zayn again. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my brother to death and I cried like a bunny to find out that I was still in his head somewhere. But ever since that truck flipped, my whole life has been about him.” 

“You know I wasn’t aware that bunnies did much crying.” Zayn tries to joke and feels like he is winning a lottery when Jamie’s frown turns into a smile. 

“Don’t nitpick.” Jamie says but smiles anyway. 

“Right.” Zayn nods as he looks at Jamie. “And I thought you were just quiet.” 

Jamie shakes his head. “No. I just wait until I’m sure somebody’s worth talking to first.” He says. “And then I don’t shut up.” 

Zayn laughs. “Yeah, you’re telling me.” He teases and Jamie punches his arms playfully. 

 

**

 

“Can I steal him for a second?” Liam asks as he reaches Niall and Sean who are talking animatedly. Well, Sean do the most talking and Niall just nodding half-heartedly by the look of it. Sean nods and waves them off, turns to leave both of them alone. 

Niall turns around to face Liam and puts his hands into his jacket’s pocket. He remains silent as he stares at Liam and Liam knows it’s his time to speak. “Can I say I’m sorry?” Liam says. 

Niall shakes his head. “No.”

“Well, I am.” 

“No..I mean..you shouldn’t be.” Niall says. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” He adds as he looks at Liam. “Ever since the accident, everyone told me not to push so hard. Guess what I did. I pushed. I get you back and everyone says ‘don’t push, Niall.’ And guess what I do.” Niall continues. “Liam, I’m beginning to think that the best thing I can do for you is just to go away. Give you some time.” Niall finishes and starts to walk away. 

Liam turns in panic. He is not willing to lose Niall. “Don’t do that, Grover. It’s me who..I’m the one that blew up.” 

Niall stops dead in his track and turns around sharply. “What did you say?” He asks, his heart beats rapidly because he sure Liam had said something that he hadn’t even told Liam about it after Liam woke up from the accident. 

“I just said that I was sorry..”

“No, no, I mean, what did you just called me?” 

Liam scrunches his nose, trying to remember. “I called you Grover.” 

Niall smiles slightly.”That’s what you used to call me.”

Liam nods. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been remembering things. About you, us. I mean, some things, not everything. I remember ‘Grover’. I even remember how you got that name. We were like 10 years old and you kicked me because I was trying to kiss you.” 

Niall bites back his tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks quietly, as in he doesn’t believe that Liam remembers that. 

“I didn’t want to disappoint you again.” Liam admits. “You kind of expect the world and I can’t give you that. You’re not disappointed?” 

“No. No, I’m..what’s the opposite of disappointed?” 

Liam laughs. “I don’t know. I don’t..My vocabulary’s not very good right now.” 

Niall smiles, this time he means it. “Well, whatever it is, I’m that.” 

“Good.” Liam says as he leans closer and grabs Niall’s hand into his. “Because sometimes I think you forget how lucky we are.” 

Niall smiles again. “Lucky. Yeah, that’s us.” He says, a bit sarcastic. 

“I mean it.” Liam insists. “I mean, how many couples get to have their first kiss twice?” He says and leans closer towards Niall and they start to kiss. 

 

**

 

Niall gives his bag to Zayn as he is loading the bags into the bus and smiles at Zayn. Zayn smiles in return. “You have a good trip?” 

Niall grins and nods. “End of the day, yes, actually.” 

“Oh, good. I’m glad I didn’t ruin it for you.” 

Niall shakes his head. “Let’s just say we’re even.”

“What for?” 

Niall looks at Zayn, this time his face turns serious and Zayn stops moving and staring back. “He’s off crib sheets, Zayn. He doesn’t need you to feed him answers.”

Zayn curses himself mentally. “What did he tell you?” 

Niall shakes his head. “He didn’t have to. The Grover story was a little specific, not to mention straight off the Ferris wheel.” He says and pauses. “You might think I’ve forgotten the time we’ve spent together Zayn but I havent’t.” 

They both fall into silence after that, not knowing what to say before Niall starts to speak up again. “Did you tell him anything else?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No.” He answers truthfully. “Just Grover. Look, does Liam know that you…?” 

“No. No and he won’t. He doesn’t need that. Besides it was kind of sweet in a way although really misguided.” 

“Well, that’s just me in general, right?” Zayn quips. 

“Niall, I got us in the back row.” Liam announces as he suddenly pokes his head out of the bus’s window, startling both Niall and Zayn. Niall smiles and nods, glancing one more time at Zayn before he takes off, leaving Zayn alone. 

 

** 

 

“Need a ride?” Liam asks as soon as Zayn steps out from the bus. 

Zayn shakes his head. “Oh, no. Thanks. My dad’s probably gonna do his usual late anyway.” 

Liam nods. “Thanks again, for all that Grover stuff. It made all the difference with Niall.” He says to Zayn as they are walking to the parking lot. “You know it was just good to him okay for once. Home base and all.” 

Zayn just shrugs. “Yeah, definitely.” 

“So, you got to know him pretty well when I was out.” Liam states and Zayn suddenly feels nervous as they stop walking and Liam is facing him now. 

“I wouldn’t say that.” Zayn says, trying to sound convincing. 

“Well, you knew the whole Grover story. You knew exactly what it’d take to make him happy. I thought you didn’t really know each other.” Liam says, his tone neutral but Zayn can sense a hint of accusation in Liam’s statement. 

“Well, we hung out a couple of times. It was no big deal. He talked about you a lot.” 

“Still, you knew each other better than I thought.” Liam says, sounds suspicious and Zayn swallows nervously. But then Liam laughs and pats Zayn’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It’s cool. Thanks again for all that.” Liam says before he turns around and heads towards his parent’s car. Zayn releases a breath of relief and for once, he really wants to go home faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I just posted one-shot entitled 'Crazy in Love' - http://archiveofourown.org/works/863393 
> 
> and it is kinda sequel from my other story 'You're always gonna be my baby' - http://archiveofourown.org/series/49364 
> 
> but it can be read alone, I guess.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy with workssssssss until end of August (oh my!) so I might not be able to update this as soon as I can (I hope that I can. I'll try my best!) But for this while, just enjoy this one :)

“No, no, it’s Zayn. Z-A-Y-N.” Zayn spells his name slowly to the old man behind the counter at the post office. 

“Picking up a valentine package?” Someone asks Zayn from behind. 

Zayn turns around and finds Jamie behind him. “Er, that would be a big no.” He replies when Jamie reaches beside him. 

“Z-A-Y-N.” The old man spells and Zayn turns to look at him again. “Well I think we do have a package.” 

Zayn takes the box from the old man’s shaky hand and smiles. “Thank you.” 

“And one for you.” The old man points at Jamie and Zayn raises his eyebrows. “That’s ‘Payne’ right?” The old man continues and Jamie nods. 

“Good guess.” Jamie says and smiles. “I’ve only lived here all my life.” He says to Zayn as soon as the old man goes back to the back of the office to pick Jamie’s package. 

Zayn’s eyes go wide as he sees the big box and offers himself to take the box since Jamie is smaller than him, obviously. “So, what about you?” Zayn asks as soon as he drops Jamie’s box on the trolley. “You got a secret admirer at boarding school or something?” 

Jamie laughs and shakes his head. “No.” 

“So, what it is?” Zayn asks out of curiosity as he eyes the big box. 

“Supplies from the outside world.” Jamie replies with a shrug. “A Band-Aid measure until I get out of here and ship quaint reminders in and think nostalgically of my wasted youth when I was bored off my ass in Mullingar.” 

Zayn grins widely. “I finally found someone who hates it here as much as I do.”

“As much? More.” 

Zayn laughs. “Not possible.” 

Jamie grins and shrugs. “Okay, I challenge you. ‘I hate Mullingar’ contest. I’ll go first.” Jamie says as he looks at Zayn. “I hate the fact that the egg rolls at Gino Changs smell like lasagna.” 

Zayn snorts. “I hate that everything’s a fest. Thaw fest, fly fest, pie fest. What does that even mean?” He says as they are walking out of the post office. “And what’s so festive about catching some fish or watching some guy melt?” He continues. 

Jamie laughs before it’s his turns to speak. “I hate the fact that they call it Main Street. It’s the only one. They should just call it ‘Street.’” 

“Do you have a subway map of another city covering a wall in your room?” Zayn asks. 

“Do you choose colleges based on how far they are from here?” Jamie’s turn. 

“Ever had a dream you were trapped underground in a sewer for life and woke up disappointed because you were still in Mullingar?” 

Jamie shakes his head at Zayn’s over-dramatic words. “Do you have a packed bag and a plane ticket in your room?” 

Zayn snorts disbelievingly. “Come on.” 

“You don’t believe me? I’ll show you.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I believe you. I’ve kept a bag for a while. I just hadn’t bought a ticket yet.” 

Jamie glances at Zayn. “What happened?” 

“I promised my dad I’d stay.” Zayn says. 

Jamie sighs. “That’s how you get stuck in places like this. There’s always somebody who needs you.” 

 

**

 

“So what should we do Friday night?” Niall asks as he tilts his head to look at Liam’s face. They are cuddling on the couch at Liam’s house, watching some war movies, he doesn’t really paying attention to be honest. Being in Liam’s arms feel nice and Niall likes it. 

“Maybe we could go to Fuller’s Pond like we did last year.” Liam suggests. 

Niall snaps his head to turn to look at Liam properly. He is about to ask if Liam remembers about it when Liam shakes his head. “No, I didn’t remember. My mom showed me pictures from Valentine’s Day last year.” Liam explains. 

Niall smiles and shrugs. It’s okay, as long as Liam seems that he doesn’t get angry anymore about bringing up last year’s events. “She showed you the one where I fell on my face?” Niall asks. 

Liam laughs and wraps his arm tighter around Niall. “Yeah, apparently I’m a better skater than you.” 

Niall shakes his head. “Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?” He says as he grins at Liam. 

“Bet I could find out.” Liam teases as they shift their position when Liam starts to tickle Niall. 

Niall squirms and gasps in his laughter. “No, Liam. Stop.” He giggles. 

“I’m a way better skater than you are.” Liam says as he is still tickling Niall. 

“No, you’re not Liam!” 

“Say it. ‘Liam is a better skater.’” Liam says as he starts to pin Niall down. 

Niall swats Liam’s hand away. “Liam is a better skater than me!” He shrieks as he tries to stop Liam from tickling him. 

“Then you must really suck.” Jamie’s voice is heard from the door and both Liam and Niall scrambling away from each other. 

“Hey, Jamie.” Niall greets, his face flushes and Liam casually put his arm around Niall’s back. 

“Zayn.” Liam says and Niall looks at the door. “Zayn.” He parrots Liam. “What are you doing here?” Niall asks, doesn’t expecting Zayn to be at Liam’s house at all. 

“I found him at the post office, hanging around the outbound box.” Jamie replies to Niall’s question. “I think somebody was trying to return him.” He says as he turns to look at Zayn. 

Zayn chuckles. “I wish.” 

Jamie turns to look at Niall and Liam again. “Well, we’ll leave you to resume your..tickling.” 

Niall blushes madly at that but he couldn’t help but sending a long glance at Zayn’s and Jamie’s direction as they head to Jamie’s room. 

 

** 

 

Today Niall couldn’t focus in his class music. What’s with Zayn standing beside him as the whole class sing together in front of the teacher and Niall loves it, he does. But not today. His mind is running fast and before he knows it, he leans to his side and whispers to Zayn. “Jamie’s cool, isn’t he?” 

Zayn turns to look at Niall in confusion and Niall shrugs before he continues. “Jamie. You guys seemed to be getting along the other day. That’s so great.” 

Zayn smiles. “I’m glad you approve.” He says sarcastically. 

Niall ignores Zayn’s sarcasm and both of them glance at each other again before Zayn starts to speak up. “Since when you’re interested?” 

Niall shrugs. “Well, he’s my friend. You’re my friend.” 

Zayn smiles again as he glances at Niall. “We got mail together, went back to his place. I believe we shared a beverage or two at which point I obviously thought it was time to ask him for his hand in marriage.” He jokes. 

Niall snorts and tries to tell himself that a pit feeling in his stomach is not jealousy. Yes, not at all. Niall James Horan doesn’t do jealousy. Plus, he has Liam. Yes, he has Liam. “I just didn’t know you were interested in him, that’s all.” And yet his mouth doesn’t seem that it wants to shut up. 

Zayn snorts. “Who says I’m interested in him?” 

“If you were, I could probably help you.” Niall offers. 

“Oh, and why would I want your help?” 

Niall grins. “Oh, so you are interested in him.” 

They stop talking for a while and turns their attention towards the teacher in front of them before Zayn speaks. “I mean, he is pretty attractive.” 

“Yes, he is.” Niall replies quickly. 

“Kind of in a dark way.” Zayn says. “He reminds me a lot of the boys back in London.” 

Niall rolls his eyes. “As opposed to us small-town boys.” 

Zayn steals a glance towards Niall to see his reaction. “If I did want to ask him out, what do you think I would say?” 

Niall tries his best to keeps his composure because he doesn’t know why he feels something when Zayn says that. “Just think of something funny or…no..something sweet.” He replies and cringes at himself because he sounds bitter. Damn. “Doesn’t matter. He’ll want to go out with you. All you have to do is ask. Just ask.” 

“Boy, you really like this. If it works out, I’ll give you a finder’s fee.” Zayn jokes but surprisingly, Niall doesn’t even find it funny as he always do. Not at all. 

“Whatever she’s taking, I want some.” Liam suddenly appears behind them when they class finish and Niall curses himself inwardly for forgetting that Liam is in the same class with them. Liam seems not to notice anything as he looks at Zayn. 

“Still coming over later for the animation festival?” Liam asks Zayn.

Zayn nods. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” 

“It’d be the perfect time to ask him.” Niall suddenly pipes in. 

Liam glances at both of them. “Ask who what?” 

“Zayn wants to ask Jamie on a date.” Niall replies. 

“Whoa, I didn’t say when.” Zayn says defensively. 

“And I thought you two were digging on each other.” Liam says and laughs as he punches Zayn’s arm playfully.

“Well, digging’s kind of..” Zayn says but Niall cuts him off. 

“It’s a perfect time to ask him, don’t you think. Liam?” 

Liam smiles. “Yeah, I guess.” 

Zayn nods awkwardly. “Well, thanks.” He says before he leaves both of them and heads towards the next class. Niall watches as Zayn leaves and keeps reminding himself that he is not jealous. Not jealous at all. 

 

**

 

“So all of them are like this.” Zayn comments and Liam shrugs as they are watching the movie together. 

“This is one of my favorites.” Liam says. 

“I’m gonna get a soda. Anybody?” Jamie suddenly says and stands up from the couch. 

Niall shakes his head. “No, thanks.” Liam and Zayn are shaking their heads too. Niall waits until Jamie leaves before he nudges Zayn on his arm. “That’s your chance. He did that ‘getting a soda’ thing.”

Zayn quirks his eyebrows. “Maybe he wants a soda.” 

Niall shakes his head. “No! Don’t be silly.He wants you to follow him.” 

Liam who is sitting between both of them suddenly turns to look at Zayn on his left side. “I think he may be right, dude.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes at both Niall and Liam but he stands up nonetheless. He heads towards the kitchen and almost bumps into Jamie. “Oh, sorry.” Zayn chuckles nervously. 

Jamie smiles. “After you.” He says as he points out at the fridge. 

Zayn nods. “Okay.” He says and opens the fridge’s door. He takes two bottles out and offers it to Jamie. Jamie takes the orange one and they stare at each other before Zayn starts to speak up. “So..what are you..? Urm, you know..what are you doing this week?” Zayn stammers and mentally curses himself for losing his cool. 

Jamie grins. “This week?” 

“Yeah, you know I mean..” 

“The usual.” Jamie replies shortly. 

Zayn nods awkwardly. “Cool. Cool.” 

Jamie smiles at Zayn. “What are you doing?” 

Zayn waves his hand dismissively. “Oh, you know, I mean..don’t really have any plans. Just whatever.” 

They both fall into an awkward silence before Jamie speaks up. “Well, this has been thrilling.” He says sarcastically and starts to leave the kitchen. 

Zayn almost face-palming himself. “Hey, Jamie.” He calls out and Jamie turns to look at him. Then Zayn takes his chance. “Would you maybe wanna, you know, do something, sometime?” 

“Could you be more specific?” 

“Well, with me, I mean..” Zayn chuckles nervously. “You know, would you like to do something with me?” 

Jamie blinks his eyes. “Like a date.” 

Zayn nods. “Yeah.” 

Jamie starts to grin. “Any particular sometime or just..?” 

“Tomorrow? Tomorrow night?” 

“Valentine’s Day?” 

Zayn’s eyes go wide. “Oh, no. No, I forgot. Sorry.” 

“Are you trying to back out?” Jamie asks as he looks at Zayn, his eyes twinkling mischievously. 

“No!” Zayn replies quickly. “No, I just didn’t think..” 

“Good. Because I’m in.” Jamie says boldly. 

 

**

 

“Hey.” 

Zayn turns his head from looking at his comic book to look at his father who is standing beside the door. “Hey.” 

“Well, we got through Valentine’s Day.” Yasir says. “How about anti-Valentine’s evening?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I can’t. I got a date.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “You got a date?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Yeah. What time is it?” 

“6.10.” Yasir replies while Zayn stands up abruptly. “You got a date, wow. You, Harry. Guess I’m odd man out.” 

Zayn browses through his wardrobe to find his jacket. “Harry?” 

“He’s sleeping at Nina’s tonight. He and Sam made some kind of an agreement to be each other’s valentine in case their prince charming didn’t show.” 

Zayn snorts. “Very practical.” 

Yasir nods as he watches Zayn messing with hair gel and put it on his hair. “So, where are you going?” 

“Skating.” 

“Is this another part of your childhood that I missed? Do you skate?” 

Zayn laughs. “No.” 

“You’re not going with Niall, are you?” 

Zayn shakes his head and sits down on his bed, putting on his sneakers. “No, Jamie Payne. Liam’s brother.” 

Yasir nods again. “You like him?” 

“I don’t know.” Zayn answers truthfully. “He likes me. I don’t know. He’s cool. Sometimes it’s nice to hang out with a boy if you get the opportunity. You know what I mean?” 

 

**

 

Zayn scowls as Jamie and Niall seem to laugh at his expenses. Well, his suckiness at skate and he leaves both of them alone. Niall watches as Jamie looks at Zayn longingly and he turns his eyes away. 

“So you guys seem to be having a good time.” Niall starts. 

Jamie smiles. “Yeah, so far he’s not disappointing.” 

Niall nods. “Yeah, Zayn’s cool.” 

“What’s the 411 on him anyway?” Jamie asks as he looks at Niall. 

Niall raises his eyebrows confusingly. “What do you mean?” 

Jamie shakes his head. “Why isn’t he seeing anyone?” He asks bluntly. 

Niall almost chokes on his breath at Jamies’s question but he is an expert at poker face anyway. “I guess he hasn’t found the right person.” He replies casually. 

“Did he just break up with someone or something?” Jamie presses. 

Niall shakes his head, hoping that Jamie doesn’t notice anything about his reaction. “He hasn’t mentioned anyone.” 

Jamie nods. “Boyfriend in London?” 

“Don’t think so.” 

Jamie nods again as he tightens his skating shoes. “You know, I don’t even know why I’m surprised that boys here are too stupid to locate the one cool eligible guy in town. I mean I haven’t been gone _that_ long.” 

Niall stares at Jamie but the other guy doesn’t realize it. “Well, what is it that you like about him?” Niall asks. 

Jamie shrugs and smiles fondly as he glances at Zayn at the other end of the skate rink. “He’s that guy that you’d want to hang out with even if you weren’t dating him. And he’s cute in that kind of way that’s sort of like, you know like in movies that the guy you want the girl to be with that everybody pretends isn’t cute but really is.” 

Niall nods and starts to smile too. “Yeah.” He mumbles fondly. 

Jamie stands up from the bench and waves Niall off. Niall watches as Jamie goes to Zayn’s side and starts to pull his arm, trying to teach him on how to skate. When Zayn stumbles, Jamie grabs his waist and no, Niall doesn’t mind at all. He really doesn’t, he assures himself as he turns his head away from the scene. 

 

**

 

“More effort, Malik. You need more effort.” Jamie teases as Zayn still skates horribly. 

“I’m already expending an infinite amount.” Zayn rolls his eyes and panics when Jamie lets go of his hand and skates graciously in front of him. 

“So, come and get me.” Jamie says. 

“Yeah, like that’ll happen.” 

“What if I skate closer?” Jamie teases as he circles Zayn near his body. 

Zayn shakes his head. “I might hit you by accident next time I fall.” 

“Is that so?” Jamie asks mischievously. 

“Yes.” 

Jamie skates closer until he reaches Zayn and stands in front of him. Well, more likely bumping their chests together. “I dare you not to fall.” Jamie says as he stares at Zayn’s eyes. 

Zayn smiles. “I’m not falling.” 

Jamie smiles again. “Wait. There’s more.” He says as he grips his arms around Zayn’s waist and circles them around before he stops skating and kisses Zayn. On the lips. 

Zayn startles for a second and kisses back before he slips and falls onto the ice. Jamie laughs and Zayn rolls his eyes. 

Niall watches the scene with a scowl on his face and Liam notices. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asks. 

Niall glances at Liam who is sitting beside him and scrunches his forehead. “Talk about what?” 

“Zayn and Jamie.” Liam says. “It’s been bugging you. I can tell that it is.” He continues as he looks at Niall. 

Niall tries to hide the sudden rapid beats of his heart and tries to smile at Liam. “Why would it be bothering me? I’m the one who told Zayn to ask Jamie out, remember?” Niall says, trying to play it cool. 

Liam smiles slightly and shrugs. “Look, I know something happened between you guys when I was gone. Just tell me.” He says and looks at Niall and this time, Niall turns his attention towards Liam. 

“How did you know? Did Zayn..?” Niall stammers guiltily. He doesn’t want to hurt Liam but he doesn’t want to lie to Liam either. 

“I figured it out Niall.” Liam says. “Why don’t you just tell me what happened?” 

Niall shakes his head. “Because it doesn’t matter.” 

Liam snorts, this time he gets slightly mad at Niall’s attempt to end the conversation. “Well, it matters to me.” 

Niall sighs, messing with his hair before he slumps dejectedly. “I missed you and no one really understood. Then Zayn came along and he just got it somehow. And so we spent a lot of time together because he was the only one I could bear to talk to but..and I know this gonna sound lame but it was always about you.” 

Liam nods and shakes his head slightly. “In the beginning, you mean.” 

Niall doesn’t bother to correct Liam and continues to speak. “One night we went on this field trip and got stuck in the mine and he kissed me. I don’t know how I let it happened or why. I was crazy that day, thinking about your surgery. I don’t know what I was doing.” Niall admits. 

Liam bits his lips, trying to feign his hurt because damn, he knows he doesn’t remember Niall but he knows deep down, he loves Niall. “Did it happen again?” He asks quietly, afraid of getting to know the answer. 

Niall feels his eyes filled with tears because he feels so guilty to Liam but he can’t help it. He can’t control his feeling towards Zayn too. “Once.” 

“Did you know what you were doing then?” Liam asks as they stare at each other. 

Niall couldn’t look at Liam and he stands up. “What happened between Zayn and I..amounts to about 10 seconds.” Niall says. “Before you judge me for it, I want you to think about the hours of bus trips that I took to go to see you. The thousands of pages of books that I read to you. The hours of music that I played for you because they said you might be able to hear it. I couldn’t eat, Liam. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus in school. I lost most of my friends. When you finally did wake up, you didn’t even remember who I was and your own mother wouldn’t let me go see you. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Because I don’t know anymore.” 

Liam shakes his head and tilts his head up to look at Niall. “I don’t know. I wish you had been this honest with me a month ago. See, when I got out of the hospital, I didn’t know who you were. But I do know.” He says and his voice wavers sadly. “And I really like you. The only problem is, you haven’t been able to take your eyes off him all night.” Liam continues as he glances at Zayn’s figure on the ice rink, before he stands up and leaves Niall on his own. 

 

**

 

It is the day after they spent their night at the rink, that Niall is found leaning on Liam’s door as he stares at the other guy. “Hey.” He greets and smiles. 

Liam turns to look at him in surprise but he returns the smile back nonetheless. “Hey.” 

“Where you going?” Niall asks as he points out at the open luggage on Liam’s bed. 

“I gotta go in for some tests in the hospital and some follow-up stuff and rehab.” 

Niall nods and steps into the room. “Are you gonna call me?” He asks. 

Liam shrugs. “Well, I mean, I don’t leave until tomorrow.” 

Niall nods and sits on the edge of Liam’s bed, watching as Liam keeps packing on his clothes. “I should have told you about Zayn sooner.” He says and Liam stops moving and looks at Niall. “I was afraid.” Niall continues. “Everything was already so strange and you coming back and then..I let too much time go by..and things just got weird, you know?” 

Liam nods. “Yeah, I understand.” He says and looks at Niall with a soft smile on his face. “Lucky for you I’ve got this memory problem.” He tries to joke. 

Niall chuckles and he is really glad for Liam’s understanding. “So how long will you be gone for?” 

“A week. Maybe 10 days.” 

Niall nods. “Can I call you?” He asks quietly. 

Liam smiles. “If you want. You don’t have to.” 

“I want to.” Niall replies quickly. 

“Don’t just say it fast like that.” Liam says. “I want you to think about it.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows. “Think about what?” 

“About what you want. I know what I want, Niall. I want you.” Liam admits bluntly. “But that shouldn’t be enough for you. You have to want me too. _This_ me. I don’t expect you to have an answer for me right now. It’s okay. I’ll wait for you.” Liam continues. “You waited long enough for me.” 

 

**

 

“Your mom told me I’d find you here.” Zayn says as soon as he spots Niall, alone at the ice-skate rink. 

“Hey.” Niall greets shortly. 

Zayn takes a seat besides Niall on the bench. “I thought you’d be skating.” 

“No. Just thinking. Watching.”

“Imagining you’re Michelle Kwan?” Zayn asks playfully.

“How did you know?” Niall quips back. 

Zayn shrugs. “Lucky guess.” He says. “So I wanted to thank you for making me ask out Jamie.”

Niall snorts. “I didn’t make you ask…”

“I did it to prove something to you.” Zayn cuts Niall off. “Don’t ask. I don’t get it myself but I had a really good time so, thank you.” 

Niall smiles as glances at Zayn. “Well then, you’re welcome, I guess. Glad you had fun.” He says truthfully. He likes seeing Zayn happy. “He kissed you.” Niall teases and Zayn blushes slightly. 

“You saw that, huh?” Zayn asks and Niall nods. “Well, he started it.”

Niall hums in response. “Think you’re gonna see him again?” 

“I don’t know.” Zayn says. “I hope so.” He continues before he turns to look at Niall. So, what’s going on with Liam?” 

“He’s got some test in the hospital. He’ll be gone for a few days.” Niall replies. Then he sighs. “Do you think love gets easier as you get older? I mean, it’s all complicated in high school but I figure if it stays that hard, no one would ever get married, right?” 

Zayn smiles. “Yeah. Must get easier.” He replies shortly. “Or maybe you just get better at it.” He continues. 

“Or maybe you just don’t get better at it but you do it so much that it’s like math. Problem, solution with the occasional variables that messes you up.” 

“Man, I hope not. I suck at math.” Zayn says and Niall chuckles. 

“You know, you went about the whole ‘learning to skate’ thing the wrong way.” Niall says suddenly and Zayn is glad for the sudden change of the conversation. He knows something is wrong with the way Niall seems down but he knows Niall loves skating and when his eyes sparkle again when talks about skate, Zayn loves it. 

‘You’re supposed to do it without skates.” Niall continues. 

“Well maybe if I have a teacher that won’t laugh at me all the time.”

Niall laughs and it’s like music to Zayn’s ear. “I can’t promise anything but come on.” Niall says as he pulls Zayn to stand with him. “Just don’t fall down and you’ll be fine.” He says as he grabs Zayn’s hand and Zayn tries to stand wobbly on the ice and Niall laughs again. “Come on.” He coaxes and Zayn just rolling his eyes fondly at Niall’s crinkle eyes and smiles.


	17. Not a fit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know I said I won't be updating for quite a long time, but I just couldn't resist to write! So here it is, a little bit short. But enjoy xx

Zayn walks passes by the students at the hallway in confusion. Almost everyone is smooching around and he feels like he is missing something. 

“Nightmare, isn’t it?” A voice says and Zayn turns around to find Jamie who is walking behind him. Zayn waits until Jamie reaches his side before he starts to speak up. 

“What’s going on?” Zayn asks in confusion. “Besides my exact version of hell on earth.” He adds. 

Jamie chuckles. “Spoils of war. Result of a commercially-financed assault against the unattached individual.” 

Oh, Zayn nods in understanding. “Valentine’s Day?” 

Jamie nods. “The week after is always the worst. All these newbies couples have the life span of a monarch butterfly. By Friday, the halls will be littered with their crispy corpses.” 

“Friday? That soon, huh?” 

“Some of them will last..” Jamie says before he continues, “..through the weekend.” 

“Well, that’s reassuring.” Zayn retorts as he pulls out his book from his locker while Jamie is leaning at the other locker beside Zayn’s. 

Jamie shrugs. “So it’s not like a complete waste of time, more like a minor diversion.” He says as he looks at Zayn. 

Zayn closes the locker’s door and turns to look at Jamie. “So..” He trails off.

“So..” Jamie mimics Zayn’s action as they stare at each other longingly. 

“Maybe you want to do something with me this weekend?” Zayn asks. He doesn’t know where he gets the courage but he likes it. 

Jamie smiles. “You’re getting better at that.” 

Zayn smiles in return and starts to walk to the class when Jamie takes Zayn’s hand into his and they are holding their hands and smile at each other as they walk. Zayn likes it and he feels happy for a moment before he suddenly spots Niall who is smiling brightly as he approaches both of them. 

Jamie tries to hide his disappointment when Zayn untangles his hand from Jamie’s grip and forces a smile as he looks at Niall who seems oblivious about the scene. 

“Oh, Jamie. I wanted to give you Liam’s biology homework so you can give it to your parents to take to the rehab center.” Niall babbles as he hands Jamie the book in his hand. “That’s the homework and that’s a letter I wrote for him. It’s kind of personal so..”

“Cool, I’ll make sure he gets it.” Jamie replies quickly. 

Niall smiles. “Cool. Thank you so much.” He says to Jamie before he waves Zayn off too. “See you later, Zayn.” 

Zayn smiles slightly and waves Niall off too. “See you.” 

Jamie watches as Zayn stares until Niall is gone from their sight before Zayn turns to look at him again. “So, about this weekend, you..” 

Jamie shakes his head. “I don’t think I can. I forgot I already have plans.” 

“But we just..” Zayn’s words are cut off by the bell and Jamie turns to head to his class. “I’m gonna be late for class so I’ll see you.” He yells over his shoulder and Zayn watches Jamie goes in confusion. What had he done? 

 

**

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this morning you weren’t feeling well?” Yasir asks his youngest son as he pulls out the thermometer stick from Harry’s mouth. 

“I’m a trouper.” Harry replies, trying to convince that his father that he is not sick. 

“You’ve probably got the flu. It’s been going around a lot lately.” 

Harry rolls his eyes. “Guess that means you’re gonna get it now. You just touched my spit.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “Doctors don’t get the flu. But you have a very bad fever. So put on your pajamas while I go see if Nina can watch you for a while.”

“Then Nina’s gonna catch it.” Harry says, trying to convince his father to stay at home with him. 

“Hazza. I’m going to leave you alone for a few hours and with you being sick, I don’t want to risk you if you fall down or anything.” Yasir says before he stands up and announces that he is going to ask Nina if he can take care of Harry for a few hours. 

“You better bring me some juice before you go because the kitchen’s really far away and I’m feeling really weak.” Harry says, trying to play his cuteness so that Yasir will give up to stay and take care of him instead of Nina. It doesn’t mean that Harry doesn’t love his lovely neighbor but sometimes he needs his father by his side too. 

 

** 

 

“Luding Van Beethoven. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Opus 12, “Pathetique” movement three. Beethoven was only a little older than you when he wrote this.” Jonathan says and Zayn rolls his eyes at his piano teacher. 

“But did he have 10 pages of algebra homework every night? I think not.” Zayn quips. 

Jonathan ignores Zayn’s sarcasm and point out to the piano in front of them. “Play.” He orders. 

Zayn just nods and starts to play the tune. “Too slow.” Jonathan says and Zayn tries to keep up. “Faster. Don’t look down.” Zayn tries again and Jonathan still frowns at him. “That’s still too slow.” Jonathan says as he slams down the cover of the piano, startling Zayn. 

“You could’ve broken my fingers!” Zayn retorts. 

“You’re young. You’d heal quick. Get up.” He says and Zayn stands up from the seat as Jonathan replaces him. Then Jonathan starts to play and Zayn admits that his piano teacher is good. 

“Your left hand is too slow to play the lower octaves.” Jonathan says. “You haven’t been practicing.” He adds. 

“I was gonna practice last week but it was Valentine’s Day.” Zayn explains. “I had a date.” 

“Ah, the love thing.” Jonathan says as he looks at Zayn. “Well, that happens to be the one excuse I’ll accept. So what’s the story?” 

Zayn shrugs. “His name’s Jamie. He’s cool and for some reason he likes me. That is when I’m not screwing things up.” 

Jonathan chuckles. “Get used to that.” 

 

**

 

Zayn takes a deep breath before he finally has the nerves to knock on the door of Payne’s house. “Don’t screw up. Don’t screw up. Do not screw up. Don’t screw up.” He keeps repeating the mantra under his breath. 

As soon as the door opens, Zayn finds Jamie there, looking at him in confusion. “What are you doing here?” 

“I’m..I’m not sure.” Zayn stutters. 

Jamie rolls his eyes. “That much is clear.” 

Zayn doesn’t know what to say again when he suddenly remembers about the flower that he threw on the front yard earlier. So he dashes through the yard and gets the flower back and runs back to the front door. “Here.” Zayn says as he hands Jamie the flower. 

Jamie accepts the flower but remains silent and Zayn puts his hands in his jacket nervously. “So are we still on for tomorrow night?” He asks. 

“I told you I was busy.” 

“I know, but you’re not really busy, right?” 

Jamie sighs. “You just seemed so uncomfortable yesterday. Like I embarrassed you or something.”

Zayn shakes his head. “Look, I’m gonna mess things up eventually. That’s just what I do. But at least give me a real chance to mess them up. I mean I am capable of such stupidity, you would be wasting my talent to end this now. So, come out with me tomorrow night. I’ll take you someplace nice. I’m completely terrible on the second date. I wouldn’t miss it if I had a chance.” Zayn rambles and looks at Jamie who is still watching him skeptically. “Please.” Zayn adds. 

Jamie stares at the nervous boy in front of him and couldn’t help but find that Zayn is indeed looks sincere about their second date. So he finally sighs in resignation. “So, where are we going?” 

Zayn cracks a smile. “Well, it’s a surprise.” When Jamie raises his eyebrows, Zayn adds. “It’s a really really cool surprise.” 

Jamie snorts and chuckles. He knows that look so well. “You have no idea where you’re taking me.” 

Zayn chuckles in embarrassment of being caught up by Jamie. “None whatsoever.” 

Jamie laughs and shakes his head. “Well, I’ll see you then.” He says before he closes the door and Zayn is left standing with a smile on his face. 

 

**

 

Zayn smiles widely as Jonathan claps his hand after he finishes his playing and Zayn knows he is improving already. 

“Well, well.. someone got their groove in.” Jonathan says as he looks at Zayn. 

Zayn grins. “I’ve been practicing.” 

“Oh, practice my ass. You’ve got mojo hitting those keys.” Jonathan compliments. “Give up the goods. You hit that Jamie action or what?” 

Zayn blushes slightly and just shrugs with a big smile plastered on his face. “We have a date.” 

“Oh, I see. And where’s this fate gonna take place?” 

“I’m not sure. Still working on that.” 

Jonathan nods. “Okay, it’s not a problem. What are your options?” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “I live in Mullingar, so my options are pretty much the $1.50 movie theater and the $3.00 movie theater.”

Jonathan nods again. “You ever heard of Ezekiel’s?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No, but it sounds religious which doesn’t exactly spell ‘action’ in my mind.” 

“No, dude. You’re gonna love it. It’s a jazz bar about 25 minutes out of town. Very old school, and the piano man will rock your world.” 

“But, it’s a bar.” Zayn states, looking at Jonathan like his piano teacher is forgetting that he is barely 15 years old. 

“Yeah, but no worries. I know a guy who’ll get you on the list.” Jonathan assures. 

“But, it’s a bar.” Zayn repeats again. 

“Is that gonna be a problem with your dad?” Jonathan asks. 

Zayn shakes his head quickly. “No. He’ll be fine with it.” 

 

**

 

“Over my dead body.” Yasir says as he looks at Zayn. “Why are you asking me question you already know the answer to?” 

“You know, I didn’t have to tell you.” Zayn quips. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yasir says before he sneezes. “God this old blanket must be full of dust.” He complaints as he drapes the blanket over Harry’s body on the couch. 

“It means I’m trying to be honest with you.” Zayn says. 

“Well, let me be honest with you.” Yasir replies. “You are going to a bar over my dead body.” 

“I think this compress needs more ice. It’s not very cold, daddy.” Harry whines from the couch, hoping that his dad and Zayn can stop arguing already. He has a headache for God’s sake. Couldn’t they just yell at each other at somewhere else? 

Yasir softens his tone as he looks at Harry. “Okay.” He says and starts to head to the kitchen, Zayn is hot on his heels. 

“Jonathan will put me on the list. I won’t even need a fake I.D.” Zayn tries again. 

“Oh, that’s comforting.” Yasir says sarcastically. 

“I’m not going there to drink. Besides, Jonathan will be there.”

“There’s a ringing endorsement.” Yasir quips again. “I’m supposed to trust the guy who kicks me out of my own living room?” He adds, remembering that Jonathan had forbid him to be presence during Zayn’s piano lesson at the living room. 

“No. You’re supposed to trust me, which you obviously don’t.” Zayn retorts. 

Yasir rolls his eyes at his son’s stubbornness. “I do trust you Zayn. I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to hang out in bars while you’re still underage. I think that’s pretty logical. Am I way out of line here?” Yasir asks and Zayn doesn’t reply with anything. “Look, why don’t you take Jamie to a nice dinner? Say at Alpine Creek? I could drive you.” Yasir offers. 

“Jonathan was right. You really don’t get it.” Zayn says as he shakes his head. 

“Where’s that grape juice?” Harry’s voice is heard from the living room, but Yasir ignores that first. He has another press issue to be resolved in. 

“No, I don’t get it. You’re 15 years old. And to tell you the truth, I don’t appreciate Jonathan encouraging this kind of behavior.” He says as he walks out of the kitchen to the living room and again Zayn follows him. “I hired him to be your piano teacher, not your frat buddy.” He adds and turns to look at Harry. “How’s that feel Hazza?” 

Harry almost rolls his eyes at his father before he replies. “Better.”

“Why do you have to ruin anything good that ever happens to me?” Zayn says and Harry groans inwardly. Here we go again. 

Yasir looks at Zayn and sighs. “Okay. Here’s the deal. You can go to the bar, but I’m chaperoning.” 

“Are you crazy? You want to go on my date with me?” 

Yasir shakes his head and shrugs. “Well, not with you per se. I’ll keep a respectable distance. You could think of me as your own private Secret Service.” 

Zayn groans miserably. “Oh no way in hell.” 

“No, no. That’s my final offer. You heard the deal. Take it or leave it.” 

 

**

 

“Alright, that’s just showing off.” Zayn says in jealousy as he listens to the piano guy. 

“He looks older than my grandpa.” Jamie says. “Can you believe his fingers can move that fast?” 

“He must be working some serious Bengay.” Zayn quips and Jamie chuckles at that. When the guy finishes with his playing, they both clap and Jamie turns to look at Zayn. 

“So..okay, number one. How did you get us in here? Two, how did you find this place? And three, how did you get us in here?”

“I’ve got connections.” Zayn jokes. 

Jamie raises his eyebrows. “Mob ties?” He deadpans. 

“Oh yeah. I’m all kinds of dangerous.” Zayn says and pulling a serious face as he looks at Jamie. 

Jamie burst out laughing and shakes his head. “So, I don’t know how to break this to you.” 

“You’re married.” Zayn quips. 

“No.”

“You’re leaving the country?” 

Jamie chuckles. “Stop.” 

“You’re marrying Louis and then leaving the country?” 

Jamie laughs out loud at that and shudders. Louis? Hell no fucking way. “I was gonna say I don’t know how to break this to you but you’re not messing this up.” He says as he stares at Zayn’s eyes. 

Zayn stares back. “You know, under normal circumstances, I’d try and lean in for the kiss right now but..” He trails off and glances over his shoulder. 

“Dad cramping your style?” 

Zayn nods. “Little bit. Yeah.” 

“No problem. I got you covered.” Jamie says as he leans closer to Zayn and pulls Zayn’s face towards him and kissing him slowly. 

“Smooth.” Zayn says, blushing slightly after they pull away from the kiss. 

“I know. I’m all kinds of dangerous.” Jamie says and this time, it’s Zayn’s turn to laugh. 

Jamie doesn’t realize how time really flies as they had been talking non-stop about everything until they touch the subject of Zayn’s piano skills. “You could be a pro.” Jamie says sincerely. 

“I am a pro.” Zayn says, but laughs nonetheless cause he doesn’t think that’s true. 

Jamie laughs again as he looks at Zayn. “I’m having a good time, Zayn.” He says as he looks at their entangled hands. “I just..I don’t know. The other day when I saw Niall..I thought maybe you like him or something.” Jamie admits truthfully. 

“Niall and I? Oh, we’re totally just friends.” Zayn replies. “I mean, we hung out a bit, talked about your brother a lot. It was all Liam all the time. I tried to get him to diversify but no luck.” 

Jamie watches as Zayn talks and shakes his head. “So ironic.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows in confusion. “What’s that?” 

“Him being so devoted to Liam when Liam was gonna break up with him.” 

Zayn feels his heart beats faster at the news. “What are you talking about?” He asks, suddenly sitting straight and looks at Jamie seriously. 

“Liam was thinking about it at least. He told me a few days before the accident.” Jamie says, oblivious to Zayn’s shocked expression. “Liam liked him but not as much as Niall liked him.” 

“Did you tell Liam that when he came home?” Zayn asks, his tone serious. 

Jamie shrugs. “I didn’t have the heart. Now I don’t have to. He’s fallen in love with Niall. And this time it’s pretty equal.” 

“So Niall has no idea?” Zayn asks. 

Jamie shakes his head. “No.” 

“None? You cannot tell him? you cannot..” 

“Why would I tell him? I’m not an idiot.” Jamie quips. 

Zayn seems to realize his mistake and backtracks a little. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just..”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “I know what you meant.” And both of them fall into an uncomfortable silence after that. Zayn sighs, now he really messes thing up. 

 

**

 

“Think I broke some kind of bad date record.” Zayn says when he and Jamie are standing in front of Payne’s front door after their date ends. 

“Are you trying to be charming?” Jamie asks. 

Zayn shrugs. “Depends. Is it working?” Zayn asks and Jamie shakes his head silently. “I don’t know what to say.” Zayn adds. 

“Then don’t say anything.” 

“I want to be honest with you Jamie but it’s hard because I didn’t even know I wasn’t being honest with you until tonight.” Zayn admits sincerely. 

Jamie shrugs easily. “Denial works in mysterious ways.” He says before he turns to open his front door. 

“You know, you were right about Niall.” Zayn says and Jamie turns to look at him. “I guess I’ve kind of always had this thing for him.” Zayn admits. “I don’t want to. I try not to but I can’t help it. I met you and I thought you were so cool and it would just erase everything I felt for him but it didn’t. And now I feel like a total jerk for hurting your feelings.”

“Zayn, I’ve had a really rough year so on my scale of my misery, you barely even register.” Jamie says. “Don’t beat yourself up.” 

“Barely register?” 

Jamie nods. “You know, brother in a coma..” 

“I’ve never wanted to be in a coma so much until I moved to Mullingar.” Zayn says, trying to lighten the moods. 

Jamie smirks slightly. “This place can do that to you.” They both stare at each other in silence for a few seconds before Jamie starts to speak up first. “So, look. No harm, no foul. We’re cool. Really.” 

Zayn just nods dumbly because what else he can say? “I’ll see you around.” Jamie adds before he walks into his house, leaving Zayn alone feeling like a total jackass of the night. 

 

** 

 

Niall spots the person and jogs a little towards him. “Zayn, have you seen Jamie? I have a letter I wanted to give him.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I haven’t seen him today. Sorry.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows and stares at Zayn properly. Something feels off. “Are you okay? You look kind of sad.” Niall asks. 

“I always look sad. It’s my thing.” Zayn replies. 

Niall smiles slightly and nods. “That’s kinda true.” He figures Zayn doesn’t want to talk about it so he lets it slides. “So, Liam’s coming home tomorrow.” He announces as he glances at Zayn. “And I was thinking since last time we all went out it was such a disaster..” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows at Niall. “It was?” 

Niall feels his face gets flustered at his idiocy and just trying to play it cool. “Yeah, it was for me.” 

“Why?” 

Shit, Niall. Think! “I was just kind of all over the place about things.” He lies. “But now, I’m totally normal again. I mean, normal for me, that is. And I think we should all go out together again.” 

“Sounds great..” Zayn says half-heartedly. “Except Jamie and I aren’t really going out anymore.” 

Niall tries to hide his surprise as he asks Zayn calmly. “Oh, why?” 

Zayn shrugs. “We just didn’t fit exactly.” 

Niall nods. “Well, I’m sorry. That really sucks.” He says though part of his heart is jumping in joy and he doesn’t know why. 

“It’s all right. I’ll live.” Zayn says. 

“It’s hard to find a good fit, you know. It’s like..jeans. Most people have one good pair and they wear them to death.” 

“While others will forever be Dockers.” 

Niall snorts and laughs. “Well, I woudn’t worry. You’re not the Dockers kind of guy.” 

“No?”

Niall shakes his little head and looks at Zayn from head to toe. “Nope. You’re Diesel all the way.” He says and Zayn smiles at that. 

“So, walk with me to the class?” Niall asks, wriggling his eyebrows playfully and Zayn nods and laughs a proper laugh for the day. And Niall couldn’t help but smiles fondly at Zayn’s laughing face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to Everwood


	18. She wasn't perfect, but she was damn close

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyya! I spent my weekend at home so this is the results of couple of hours in front of the compute at midnight. :D Enjoy reading xx 
> 
> p/s: I don't really know about the Jewish thing so I apologize in advance in case I'm wrong and it's not my intention to offend anyone in this story.

“You’re off today.” Jonathan says as soon as Zayn turns around from his piano when he finishes with his piece.

“Aren’t you paid to be more precise than that?” Zayn asks confusingly. 

Jonathan chuckles. “Sorry kid, it’s all I got.” 

Zayn just shrugs. “How was my tempo?” 

“It’s good.” 

“Finger independence?” 

“On the money.” Jonathan says confidently. 

“Strength? Agility? Forearm rotation?” 

Jonathan shakes his head. “It’s not your technique, Zayn. You’re not letting yourself go. You’re letting the piece lead you. Would you let a car drive you or would you drive the car?” 

“Neither. I’m 15.” Zayn deadpans. 

Jonathan chuckles and shakes his head as he takes a seat besides Zayn. “Let’s try another one.” He says as he put the music note in front of Zayn. 

“Schuber’s ‘Impromptu No. 3 Opus 90.’” Zayn reads. “I don’t know that one.” He says, trying to avoid his eyes from looking at the note. 

“That’s cool. You now have another 10 seconds to look at it.” 

“Why do I only have..?”

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..”

“Dude, you’re freaking me out.” 

“Five, four, three, two, one.” Jonathan counts ignoring Zayn and closes the note. “Good. Now play the first page.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I can’t.” 

“Yes, you can Zayn. You’re worried about getting it right and I don’t want you to. Now close your eyes, see the page in your mind and play what you see.” Jonathan instructs. 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say Obi-Wan.” Zayn says as he starts to play and closes his eyes. And then he sees it..

_  
“I’m trying to talk to you. I’m trying to tell you. You’re never home. And when you are here, you don’t notice me.” Zayn opened his eyes and stopped his piano playing. That voice sounded like his mum and he got up from his seat. He walked closer towards the voice and then he heard his father’s voice._

_“The kids are home. They can hear us.” His father said and Zayn became more curious as he walked closer towards the door of his parents’ bedroom._

_“I don’t register on your radar screen. You tell me what I’m supposed to do.” His mum’s voice was higher than usual and Zayn opened the door slightly._

_“What do you want from me?” It was his father’s voice and Zayn gulped nervously._

_“I don’t wanna live like this anymore, Yasir. I just can’t!”_

_“Then leave me, damn it!” Zayn’s eyes went wide at his father’s words. “Take the kids and leave!”_

_“I don’t wanna leave you! You know that! I just want you to talk to me Yasir!” Zayn opened the door wider and he peeked through the slit and spotted his mum who was standing face to face with his father and both of them looked angry. And then the bathroom’s door was slammed shut and his mum knocked on it. “Yasir, please come out.”_

_Zayn closed the bedroom’s door and leaned against it, closing his eyes as he tried to get rid of the sounds of his parents fighting.  
_

“You played the whole thing.” Jonathan says as soon as Zayn finishes and opens his eyes. 

Zayn stares at the piano and avoids to look at his piano teacher. “I was wrong. I do know this one.” He says before he closes the piano lid. He just doesn’t want remember how to play that tune. 

** 

“You have the perfect lips. They’re so soft and kissable.” Liam says and Niall blushes after they pull away from the kiss. 

“I do?” Niall asks shyly as he wraps his arms around Liam’s neck and both of them are lying on Niall’s bed. Liam nods before he pulls Niall’s face towards him and begins their snog session again. 

“Yeah, but you have the best eyes.” Niall says between kisses. 

Liam shakes his head slightly. “No way. You have perfectly colored eyes. They match your face.” 

Niall giggles. “My eyes match my face?” 

Liam rolls his eyes playfully. “You know what I mean.” 

Niall grins widely as they both look at each other, so intimately close. “God, I can’t believe you were gone for 10 days. Did I mention how glad I am that you’re back?” 

Liam hums in response and tries to stall the time as he looks at Niall. “Not really.” He jokes and they start to kiss again. Liam’s hand starts to roam under Niall’s shirt and Niall feels goosebumps all over his body when Liam starts to caress his spine gently. And suddenly Niall hears the sound of the car pulls into his driveway and he sits up abruptly and looks through his curtain. 

“Oh my God, they’re back.” Niall says in panic and starts to pull Liam with him to the living room downstairs because he remembers how his father had warned him not to bring Liam to his room earlier. Niall and Liam are sitting on the couch just in time Bobby and Maura enters the front door. 

“Hi.” Niall greets his parents, trying to act casual. 

“Hello.” Bobby replies. 

“How was the movie?” Niall asks. 

“Ah, popcorn was stale. We got stuck in the third row. Some dimwit spilled a gallon of Mountain Dew all over my brand new..” 

“Actually, it was very entertaining.” Maura says, cutting off Bobby’s complaint. “Only I wish someone would tell that Renee Zellweger to stop losing weight.” She adds. 

Bobby looks at both Niall and Liam suspiciously. “And what have you two been watching?” 

“Well just, you know, flipping.” Niall replies, trying not to look at his father’s eyes. 

“Yeah, there’s really nothing on.” Liam pipes in. 

“Nothing good.” Niall adds. 

“Yeah, I mean, nothing good.” Liam adds too. 

Bobby stares at them suspiciously while Maura speaks up. “It’s about time to be heading home, Liam. It’s getting pretty late.” She says as she glances at the wall clock. 

“Oh, my dad’s gonna pick me up any minute.” Liam says politely. 

“Oh, all right. Well your kids enjoy your commercials. We’ll head for bed.” Maura says as he looks at Bobby. 

“Or perhaps we’ll join you for a bit. I hear there’s a wonderful new Gap campaign.” Bobby says. “Maybe if we keep flipping, we can catch it.” 

Niall almost chokes on his breath as he looks at his father and shakes his head. Luckily his mum seems to understand and starts to pull Bobby’s hand into her. “Come on Bobby.” 

“Good night.” Bobby waves them off before they head upstairs. 

“Good night.”Niall replies, still trying to maintan his cool until his parents are out of sight. “I think we pulled it off. Parents are so clueless.” 

Liam nods. “Yep.” He says tiredly. 

Niall frowns as he looks at Liam who is currently slumping further into the couch. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m just a little…” Liam says and pauses. “I think I’m gonna use your bathroom for a second.” He says before he stands up abruptly. 

“Do you want me to get you anything?” Niall asks. 

“That’s okay. I’ll be right back.” Liam says before he shuts the door close. 

As soon as Liam enters the bathroom, he heads up straight to the sink and throw up. It takes a few minutes before the feeling to throw up subsides and he washes his face with the cold water. He sighs as he sees his reflection at the mirror. 

Niall keeps quiet outside of the bathroom’s door as he listen to Liam’s retch. Now he is worried about Liam. 

 

**

“So, when do you leave again?” Nina asks as Yasir picks up his coat to pack. 

“Not till the end of the week. We’ll only be in London for a couple of days. There shouldn’t be much mail.” Yasir replies. 

Nina shakes her head. “Oh no. It’s no problem.” She says and pauses. “This will probably make me sound stupid but I have no idea what an unveiling is.” 

“An unveiling is a Jewish custom. A year after someone passes away, family and friends gather around the gravesite to see the headstone get unveiled.” Yasir explains. “According to Jewish beliefs, when someone dies, the immediate family supposed to say Kaddish. That’s the mourner’s prayer, three times a day every day for an entire year. After that year is up, they believe that the soul has reached heaven so when you unveil the stone, it signifies that person in now resting in peace.” 

“Wow, I’m impressed, Yasir.” Nina says. “Did you minor in religious studies?” She teases. 

“He was on the internet all day.” Zayn pipes in as he hears the last part of the conversation when he enters the dining room. 

Yasir chuckles and watches as Zayn grabs a slice of pizza and starts to walk away. “Where are you going?” 

“Eating in my room, if that’s okay.” Zayn replies. 

Yasir nods. “Sure.” 

“He’s having a rough time with this trip?” Nina asks as soon as Zayn is out of the dining room. 

“Maybe. Feels like something else though. He is barely looked at me all week. It’s like he slipped back into Zayn five months ago. That Zayn was so unpleasant.” Yasir admits as he shakes his head. 

“Go easy on him.” Nina advises. “I’m sure he’ll be better once this over.” 

Yasir nods. “Let’s hope.” 

“Dad?” Harry who remains silent throughout the whole conversation suddenly calls up for his father. 

“Yes Hazza?” 

“What do you wear to an unveiling?” Harry asks because suddenly he doesn’t know what to pack and all. He’s never been to one and he is fairly certains that Ramones T-shirt that he likes so much doesn’t really fit to wear at the gravesite. 

**

Bobby is sipping on his warm milk and eating his cookie when suddenly he hears the voice from the door of his dining room. “You have to dunk the cookies, Dad. That’s the whole point.” Bobby turns and finds his youngest son is leaning on the door, watching him. 

“Wanna share?” Bobby offers and Niall shakes his head. “No thanks.” Niall declines before he walks towards the table and sips on the coke that he’s been holding in his hand. 

Bobby looks at his son and shakes his head. “You do realize that’s just battery acid for your insides, eating away your instestines?” He says as he points out at the coke bottle. 

Niall ignores his father and keeps drinking and when he finishes, he makes a sound of satisfaction and Bobby laughs. “So, things seem to be working out with you and Liam?” 

Niall nods. “Definitely.” 

“So glad I asked.” 

“It just feels like us again, you know? I mean the way I remembered us, only better.” Niall says as he smiles slightly. “More adult or something. Like before, I thought I was in love with him but that was just me, you know kind of pretending. But now I feel it and he feels it. And I know he feels it..” 

“Niall.” Bobby calls out, cutting Niall off in the middle of his rambling. 

“Yeah?”

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation when you’re 30.” Bobby says. It’s not like he doesn’t like Niall with Liam or something. It’s just that, Niall is his youngest son. The baby of the family. And Bobby just can’t accept the fact that his baby is already growing up. 

Niall seems to understand his father’s point and nods. “Okay.” He reaches his father and hugs him tightly. “Good night, Dad.” 

Bobby hugs Niall in return and kisses his son’s temple gently. “Good night.” 

Niall is starting to walk away before he suddenly turns around to look at his father again. “Dad?” 

Bobby raises his eyebrows. “Yes?” 

“When he’s gonna be well again?” Niall asks. 

“What do you mean?” 

Niall shrugs. “I mean, Liam’s going great. Better than anyone thought he would but I just hate to see him go through the side effects of the surgery.” 

Bobby frowns slightly. “What side effects?” 

“Like the normal stuff..throwing up..not like he does that a lot but..” Niall stops and takes a deep breath as he looks at his father helplessly. 

“Well, I’m sure it’s just the stress of everything. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Bobby says, trying to assure his son that nothing is wrong with Liam. “Dr. Malik and the others in the team, they’re watching him like a hawk.” 

Niall lets out breathe of relief at his father’s words. “God, I feel so much better now. I think I’ll actually sleep.” He admits before he turns away and heads to his bedroom. 

“With all that caffeine in your system. Good luck.” Bobby says and Niall laughs as he glances at his father. “Please. This is like nothing.” He says as he waves his coke bottle for his father to see. 

Bobby watches as Niall leaves and puts down his cookie. He really needs to discuss Liam’s thing with Yasir later. 

**

Zayn is typing on his laptop when his bedroom’s door is opened after a knock and he turns around. 

“Hey.” Yasir greets his son as soon as Zayn looks at him. 

“You realize the point of knocking is totally eliminated when you don’t wait for a response, right?” Zayn quips. 

Yasir ignores his son’s sarcasm and puts his hands inside his pocket as he leans on the door, watching Zayn. “Listen, I just wanted to say that I know this week is gonna be very hard for you. It’s gonna be hard for all of us. And it’s okay to be in a bad mood.” 

Zayn remains silent and turns around to face his laptop again, totally ignoring his father. Yasir sighs at Zayn’s silence and nods. “Okay then. I was thinking since we all screwed up on this three-times-a-day Kaddish thing, I thought maybe you might want to do the Kaddish at the ceremony. It might be nice. What do you think?” 

Zayn stops typing and rubs his hand over his face, still refusing to look at his father as Yasir continues to speak. “If you don’t know it, I could find it on the Net and print it up to you. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to but since you’re the only one of us who can speak a little Hebrew, I thought..”

Zayn slams down his laptop monitor before his father can finish the sentence. “I’ll do it.” He replies shortly. 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “You will?” And when Zayn nods, Yasir smiles. “Great.” 

Zayn’s face remains indifference. “Good night.” He says shortly again as he stares coldly at his father. 

Yasir’s smile drops and he knows something is wrong but he doesn’t want to push it. “Good night, Zayn.” He says before he turns around and heads out, closing the door of Zayn’s bedroom. 

As soon as his father leaves, Zayn stands up from his seat and turns around sharply when he hears the knock on his door. “What now?” He retorts in annoyance.   
_  
“What’s with the ‘tute dude?”_

_Zayn shrugged as he looked at his mother. “Sorry. I thought you were him.” He explained. “And please refrain from using the word ‘dude’ in a sentence.”_

_Zayn’s mother laughed and shook her head. “Should I put these away for you or you’ll do it yourself?” She asked, referring to the laundry basket in her hand._

_“Nah, I got it.” Zayn said and took the basket from his mother’s grasp._

_“You know, what you really need is more black in your wardrobe.”_

_Zayn snorted. “Well, if it makes you happy, I’ll pick out colourful T-shirts tomorrow with Dad. Maybe a nice fuchsia.”_

_“What’s tomorrow with Dad?” His mother asked as she looked at him confusingly._

_Zayn folded his clothes into his drawer as he replied to his mother. “He’s taking me to suit shopping for our recital. I thought I told you.”_

_Zayn felt his mother walked towards him and she looked at him with a soft smile on her face. “Your dad left for Boston this morning honey.”_

_“He did what?”_

_“There was a convention. He must have forgotten.”_

_Zayn shook his head. “I just talked to him the other day. He promised. The recital’s in two weeks.”_

_“I’m sure he was planning on calling you. Look, don’t worry. I’ll take you tomorrow.”_

_Zayn snorted angrily as he started to throw his clothes into his drawer without folding it first. “I can’t believe him.” He retorted angrily._

_Zayn’s mother tried to pat his arm in a comforting manner. “Trust me, this is a blessing in disguise.” She said gently. “Your father is the absolute worst shopper.”_

_“My father is the absolute worst at everything.” He snapped._

_“Don’t.” Zayn’s mother said before she continued. “How’s this? You, me, Barneys. We’ll pick up the most expensive suit we can find, charge it to your dad then have a fabulous lunch in the city where I may even let you have a sip or two of my mimosa.”_

_Zayn felt his anger softens at his mother’s tone. “Well, you know how much I lke the hard stuff.”_

_“What do you say? Deal?” She asked as she pulled up her pinky finger as she looked at Zayn._

_Zayn rolled his eyes and smirked but curling his pinky finger around his mother’s too. “Deal. Thanks mom.”_

_“Any time handsome.” She said before she turns around and heads out of Zayn’s bedroom, closing the door behind her.  
_  
Zayn stares at his bedroom door longingly.

**

Bobby gets out from his car and smiles at Nina who parks beside his spot. Then he spots another person from the car and raises his eyebrows. All the Maliks clan are with Nina too and Bobby couldn’t help but feeling curious.

“Morning, Dr Horan.” Harry greets politely at him and Bobby smiles back. “Good morning, glorious.” He replies before he looks at Nina and Yasir. “Any particular reason for this Brady Brunch outing?” 

“Well, Nina’s helping Harry with his suit and Zayn and I..” Yasir says before Zayn just walk passes him, mumbling something like, “I’m going in.” and Yasir continues. “…are gonna buy a suit.” 

Bobby watches as Zayn leaves grumpily and shakes his head. “Such a happy child.” 

“Okay, Hazza. Ready to shop till we drop?” Nina asks and Harry chuckles. “If we must.” He jokes and Nina nods. “We must.” Nina says before she takes Harry’s hand and leads him to the first shop. Harry bounces excitedly besides Nina. It’s not that he doesn’t want to get the suit with his father and Zayn but, they seem to be arguing a lot lately and Harry wants to shop in peace, thank you very much. 

**

Yasir smiles as he watches Harry and Nina leave before he turns to look at Bobby. “So, working on a Sunday?” 

“Got some extra paperwork to catch up on. Rather busy week, what with so many people coming down with the flu.” Bobby explains. “I understand Liam may have come down with it as well.” He adds. 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “Oh, I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Oh, Niall mentioned he hadn’t been feeling well. Some bouts of nausea, I think he said.” 

“He’s been vomiting?” 

Bobby shrugs. “Possible. I don’t know. Would that be highly irregular?” 

Yasir shakes his head slightly. “I’ll look into it. Thanks.” 

“Well, enjoy your shopping.” Bobby says before he leaves. 

**

“What do you think of these?” Yasir asks his son as he brings two pair of suits to show to Zayn. 

“Hate them.” Zayn replies shortly. 

“Well, at least do me the courtesy of looking at them before dismissing them out of hand. What if I’d picked something in powder blue? That wouldn’t have been funny, you would have missed the joke.” 

Zayn just shrugs and turns to look at his father. “You know I can do this by myself. Why don’t you give me your credit card and help Harry.”

“Harry’s taken care of. I’d like to help you.” 

“Well, I don’t want you to.” 

Yasir sighs. “All right.” He says as he pulls out his credit card. “I have to meet with the Paynes anyway. I’ll see you back at the house.”   
__  
“Zayn, what about this one?”

_Zayn turned his head to look at his mother’s direction. “Now that I like.”_

_His mother smiled brightly. “I thought so. Go try it on. We’ll get you fitted properly.”_

_Zayn took the suit and after several minutes, he was standing in front of the mirror, trying to fit the suit properly. He caught his mother’s smile at the mirror. “Look at you. You are gonna be the most handsome young man at your recital.” She said and Zayn smiled._

_“I’m gonna mess up the middle part again.” He whined. “I can’t get it right.”_

_“You’re obsessing again.” His mother teased._

_“I’m not obsessing. I just want it to be perfect. You’re driving 2 hours away from home for this.” Zayn said and his mother just smiled at him as she patted his back reassuringly. Zayn turned around to face his mother._

_“What are you smiling about?”_

_Zayn’s mother shook her head. “Nothing. You’re just so much like your father sometimes.”_

_Zayn’s smile dropped at that words. “I am nothing like him.”_

_“Don’t be angry with him. He feels awful about everything. He called you, didn’t he?”_

_“Yeah. But only because you told him to.”_

_Zayn’s mother stopped smothering with his tie and looked at him. “How did you know that?”_

_“You think I don’t know you sign his name on birthday cards and pick out the presents?”_

_“You know when we first me he wasn’t always this..”_

_“This much of a jerk?”_

_“I was going to say ‘wasn’t always this busy’”._

_Zayn snorted and his mother continued to speak. “When we first met, it was very different.”_

_“Probably didn’t fight as much either, huh?”_

_Zayn’s mother looked at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Your father and I don’t fight that much.”_

_Zayn rolled his eyes and snorted. “Mom.”_

_“Have you decided if you’re gonna invited Colin Farrell to the recital?” She said instead, trying to change the topic._

_Zayn chuckled and decided to let the topic slides for once. “You know her name’s not really Colin Farrell right? It’s Blake. He’s just kind of looks like him. And no, I..I changed my mind.”_

_“Really? I thought it was a brilliant tactical maneuver on your part.”_

_“How do you figure?”_

_“He’d be seeing you in your element. Do you remember when John Augustine got the lead in your school play last year? He had all the girls in love with him after that. That boy couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag, not to mention his dandruff.”_

_Zayn laughed out loud. “Mom!”_

_His mother laughed as well. “It’s wasn’t about his looks. Those girls fell in love with his presence on stage, his confidence. That’s what draws the women in. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same case with men too. And sweetheart, when you play the piano, you have no idea but your whole body changes.” She said as she took a seat besides Zayn, patting her son’s head softly. “You sit down on that bench and you forget about all your insecurities. It’s like you finally allow yourself to be who you really are.”_

_“A total piano dork?”_

_“An unbelievably gifted musician.” She said as she started to tickle Zayn._

_Zayn giggled and tried to get away from his mother’s attack. “Mom!” He whined as his mother laughed. “Mom! The pins! The pins!” He said, referring to the pin on his trial suit._

_His mother let him go. “I’m sorry.” She said and both of them laughed.  
_  
Zayn is still laughing and suddenly stops as he realizes where he is at the present time. He looks around, only to realize that he is alone. 

** 

Yasir knocks the door twice before it is finally open and Mrs. Payne greets him in surprise. “Dr. Malik. This is an unexpected surprise.” She says. 

Yasir smiles as he enters the house after Mrs. Payne. “Well, I thought I’d make a house call. Save you guys another trip to the office. How are you doing, Liam?” He asks as he soon he spots the boy. 

Liam who has been standing nearby nods. “Good.” 

“Must be good to be back from the hospital, huh?” 

Liam smiles. “Yeah. Definitely.” 

“You know, it’ll be nice if we don’t have to have these checkups so frequently.” Mrs. Payne says. 

“Mom! I can’t find my Ipod.” Jamie says as he enters the living room before he realizes that they have a guest. “Oh, sorry.” 

Yasir just smiles at Jamie and Mrs. Payne looks at her youngest son. “I’ll help you in a second honey. Go.”

Jamie seems to understand and turns around, heading out to his bedroom and Mrs. Payne turns to look at Yasir again. “Have a seat, please.” 

Yasir nods. “Oh, thanks.” He says before they all take their seats on the couch. “So, did the doctors in the hospital fill you in on your lab results?” He asks Liam.

“Yeah, most of them, I think. It all sounded good, right?” Liam asks, suddenly uncertain about his own condition. 

“Yeah, it did. How are you feeling otherwise?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You know, usual stuff. Headaches, stomachaches, things like that.” 

Liam shakes his head. “No, I feel good.” He says as he glances over at his mother besides him. 

“So, you haven’t been throwing up lately?” Yasir asks.

This time Liam’s smile drops and Mrs. Payne pipes into the conversation. “There’s the occasional bout of nausea but that’s normal for our family. We have nervous stomachs.” 

“Well, that may be. But as Liam’s physician, I need to know about these things. Everything that happens. Anything out of the ordinary, if Liam stubs his toe, I wanna hear about it.” 

“I apologize. From now on, I will keep you updated on everything.” Mrs. Payne says. 

Yasir nods and turns his attention to Liam again. “So, how persistent is the vomiting?” 

Liam shrugs. “Just a few times for the last couple of days.” 

“Any idea what brings it on?” 

“Last night I was just running around. I wasn’t feeling, you know, that well before anyways. I might just got the flu.” 

“Maybe. But just to be safe, I want Liam to stop by my office tomorrow for a funduscopy. Simple eye test. It won’t take long.” 

“But why?” Mrs. Payne asks as Liam sighs tiredly. How many tests that he has to go through to get fully better? 

“It’s another test that checks for increased intercranial pressure.” Yasir explains. “It picks up things that the CT scan might not. It’s just a precaution. You don’t mind, do you?” He asks Liam. 

Mrs. Payne is the one who responds to the question instead. “Looks like you didn’t save us that extra trip after all, did you?” 

**

Niall blows out his breath and rubs his hands together as he stands by the sidewalk and waiting for Liam in front of the movie theatre. Then he spots Zayn who is just coming out from one of the shops and heading towards his direction. 

“What’d you get?” Niall smiles and asks, pointing to Zayn’s hand. 

Zayn looks up and smiles as well. “Oh, it’s just a suit.” 

“For your recital?” Niall asks. 

“Huh?” Zayn asks confusingly. 

Niall stares at Zayn. “Your recital. I thought it was coming up.” 

“Oh, yeah, no. it’s not for that. I guess I could wear it for that too.” Zayn says. “I just, you know, I wasn’t really..”

“You’re rambling again.” Niall points out as he smiles fondly at Zayn. 

Zayn blushes slightly and shakes his head. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I just..I got some things on my mind.” He says. “So what are you doing?” 

“Liam and I were supposed to see a movie but he’s really late. We’ll probably have to catch the next one.” Niall replies. “Did you want to hang out with us?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No, I should get home.”

Niall nods. “Hey, but you’re gonna invite me to your recital, right? I mean, when it happens.” Niall asks as he looks at Zayn. 

“You’d want to come?” 

“Of course I would.” Niall says like he couldn’t believe that Zayn would doubt him to see Zayn’s recital. “You’re an awesome piano player, Zayn. Plus, I’ve never seen you in a real suit before. See? Tons of reasons to go.” Niall says and smiles brightly at Zayn before he looks over Zayn’s shoulder. “Liam!” He calls out and Zayn turns around. 

“See you later.” Zayn says as he takes off and Niall nods before he turns to look at Liam again. 

“Where have you been? The movie started 10 minutes ago. We could catch the next one..” Niall says but Liam cuts him off mid sentence. 

“I was with Dr. Malik, my new best friend, who I have to see again tomorrow because he wants to run another fucking test on me.” Liam spits. 

“What?” 

“You know, and I’m just curious, do you blab everthing that happens between us to the whole world or just the stuff about me being sick?” Liam asks as he looks at Niall madly. 

Niall shakes his head. “I didn’t. What are you talking about? You’re not sick.” 

“Yeah, I know that.” Liam says in annoyance. “But apparently, when the doctor finds out that I’ve been throwing up..”

“How did he? I swear to God I didn’t tell him.” Niall says truthfully. 

“You didn’t tell anyone?” 

Niall starts to shake his head when suddenly the realization dawns on him. “Oh no.” 

Liam nods disappointingly. “I think I’m gonna skip this movie.” He says as he starts to turns around. 

“Liam, wait! I didn’t mean to..” 

Liam turns around again to look at Niall. “You know, I got a lot to deal with right now, Niall. I don’t need to worry about whether yes or not I can trust you. I just need to know that you’re on my side.” 

“Of course I’m on your side.” 

Liam snorts disbelievingly. “Yeah.” He says before he turns around and leaves Niall alone in frustration. 

**

“The purpose of the funduscopy is to check for any indication for hydrocephalus which is increased fluid around the brain.” Yasir explains to both Mr. and Mrs. Payne in front of him as they are sitting at his office to discuss Liam’s condition. 

“The hospital doctors told us about that but they weren’t worried.” Mr. Payne says. 

“Well, the tests do indicate Liam isn’t a high-risk candidate which is good.” 

“Which is great.” Mrs. Payne pipes in. 

“But tests can be inconclusive. Call it gut feeling but something’s not sitting well with me.” 

“What are you trying to say?” Mrs. Payne asks. 

“I’m concerned about Liam. Right now I don’t think that going to the hospital once a month for a round of genetic tests is enough. I’m gonna recommend that you send him somewhere where he can be monitored 24 hours a day.” 

Mrs. Payne shakes her head. “You want us to send our son away again?” 

Yasir nods. “For a while, yes. There are facilities I can recommend..”

“Doctor, we just got our son back. We don’t want to ship him off to some psych ward just because of you have a gut feeling.” Mr. Payne says. 

“Look, I understand how hard this is for you but you guys have to trust me.” 

Mrs. Payne shakes her head again. “All of Liam’s other doctors are very positive and supportive. And that’s what he needs right now. Not more testing. And certainly not to be separated from his family and friends just when he’s starting to feel comfortable again.” 

“This would only be for a short while.” Yasir tries again. 

“You know, a mother has instincts too. And right now, mine are telling me that you may no longer be the best doctor for my son.” 

Yasir admits he is taken aback by the statement. “I’m sorry?” 

“We’ve talked about this a lot. Back in London, you only performed surgery.” Mr. Payne adds, supporting his wife. 

“That’s correct, but..” 

“Don’t get me wrong. I’d never underestimate what you’ve done for my son. I’ll be eternally grateful but there’s a difference between a surgeon and a full-time family physician. You’re still looking for problems. We’re just looking for peace. Can you understand that?” 

“Yes, I do understand that.” Yasir says. “But I also understand that you don’t wanna deal with the severity of what’s happened to Liam. And as your doctor and your friend, I am telling you he is not out of the woods yet. His symptoms could worsen.”

“We’ll be mindful of that but you don’t have to worry about it anymore.” Mrs. Payne says before she stands up from the seat, follows by her husband. 

“Don’t do this please. You’re making a big mistake.” Yasir pleads as both of the Paynes are reaching towards the door.

“Thank you for everything, I won’t forget it.” Mr. Payne says before they are out of the door. 

**

Harry enters the kitchen and finds his brother there, browsing through the food cabinet. “Where’s dad?” He asks as he looks at his older brother. “You’re making dinner?” 

Zayn nods. “Noodles and soup.” He replies shortly. “Pick a flavor. Chicken or oriental?” He asks as he glances over at Harry. 

Harry rolls his eyes. “I didn’t think noodles were supposed to taste like chicken.” He deadpans. “What’s Oriental taste like?”

Zayn shrugs. “No idea. What do you say let’s make them both and find out.” 

Harry nods. “Good thinking.” He says before he takes a seat on the kitchen’s tool, watching as Zayn starts to head to the microwave with the noodle. “Zayn?” He calls out and his brother turns to face him. “Yeah?” 

“Are you scared to go back home?” Harry asks bluntly. 

“No. Why. Are you?” 

Harry shrugs. “A little.” He admits truthfully. “Sometimes I think maybe Mom’s still there. Like she didn’t die except now she’s mad at us.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows as he looks at Harry. “Well, why should she be mad?” 

“It’s just when she died, I used to think about her all the time.” Harry says quietly. 

“Now you don’t think about her as much?” 

Harry shakes his head. “Not as much, no.” He says guiltily. He doesn’t know whether it’s a good thing or not but he doesn’t want to forget his mom, but somehow he forgets her along the way. 

“And you think she’d be mad at you for that?” Zayn asks soflty, reaching to wrap his arm around his brother, knowing exactly what Harry is feeling at the moment. Harry remains silent and looks like he wants to cry and Zayn lets his brother leans on his shoulder. “Remember my favorite sneakers?” Zayn asks suddenly and he feels Harry nods against his shoulder. 

“The Pumas with your name all over them?” Harry asks. He remembers how Zayn used to be obsessed with that shoes. 

“Yeah. Remember how I used to wear them all the time?” 

Harry chuckles. “Yeah. They smelled so bad, Mom put baby powder in them.” 

“She even threw them away that one time, you remember that?” Zayn says between his quiet laughters. 

“But then she went in the garbage to get them back.” Harry says, smiling as he remembering the scene. 

“Yeah, I don’t wear my Pumas that much anymore. But when I do, it’s like extra special. You know what I mean?” 

Harry nods. “Yeah.” He says. 

“You sure?” Zayn asks again as he tilts his head down to look at his brother’s expression. 

Harry smiles at him and shifts to wrap his hands around Zayn’s body, hugging his brother close. “Thanks, Zayn.” He says and when they pull away, both of them have tears brim in their eyes. They know they share the same feeling about their mother. 

Zayn shakes his head as he tries to maintain his cool (he’s the older here, that’s what he does). “All right. Go wash up. Dinner’s ready.” He says to Harry and the younger one obeys. Then he turns the microwave on.   
__  
“I thought we were going to a nice lunch. I was promised champagne.” Zayn said as he looked at his mother besides him as they were sitting at one of the restaurants in London.

_“Sorry, but I had a hankering for a greasy cheeseburger instead.” His mom said. “You ready to order?”_

_“Yeah.” He said before he spotted on someone at the counter. “Oh my God.” He exclaimed before he turned around._

_“What’s wrong?” His mum asked._

_“His parents own the diner. I didn’t know he worked here.” Zayn said in panic, referring to the boy behind the counter who seemed not to notice him, yet._

_“Whose parents? Who are you talking about?”_

_“The waiter.” Zayn said as he glanced over his shoulder._

_“What about him?”_

_Zayn started to stand up from his seat. “We have to go now.”_

_“Because Blake Adams a.k.a Colin Farrell is our waiter?” His mum asked._

_Zayn shook his head. “No, because..” Wait a minute. “You set me up.” He said after the realization dawned on him. “This is completely illegal mother behavior.”_

_His mother laughed as she looked at him. “I know. So are you gonna invite him to the recital or what? No excuses now.”_

_“How did you even know he worked here? You didn’t even know his name.” Zayn asked in confusion. “How dd you know his name? What are you? Are you CIA?”_

_His mother shook her head. “Nope. PTA. I know everything. Now go ask him. Go on.” She said as she pushed Zayn out of the seat to go to the waiter’s direction._

_“I can’t. I can’t.” Zayn said in a panic tone._

_“Yes, you can. I won’t even watch. I promise.”_

_“What if he says no?”_

_“He won’t.”_

_Zayn rolled his eyes at his mother. “How do you know?”_

_“Because I just do. Go.”_

_Zayn finally got up and before he left their seats, he warned his mother. “Don’t watch.”_

_**_

_“And he even knows the piece I’m playing for my recital which is so unbelievably cool.” Zayn said, still talking to his mother when they opened their apartment’s door. “I mean, why would he know that?”_

_His mother smiled at him. “He’s obviously a very intelligent boy.”_

_“He’s obviously meant to be with me.” Zayn joked._

_“Obviously.”_

_Zayn laughed. “And did you see when we left? He waved.”_

_“I did.”_

_“That’s right. We waved.” Zayn said excitedly._

_His mother chuckled and started to press on their house phone to check for the voicemails. “Hi, it’s me. Listen, I won’t be coming home tonight. I know I said I was, but something’s come up. And I won’t be able to make it. Tell the kids I’ll call them when I can.”_

_Zayn felt his good feelings vanished instantly as he listened to his father’s voice on the phone’s speaker. “Where is he?” Zayn asked as his mother sighed._

_“I guess he’s still in Boston.” She said._

_“No, he’s not. I called the hotel. He’s not there. I checked.”_

_“What hotel?” His mother asked._

_“The hotel he told me he was staying at. Where did he tell you he was staying? Did he even bother sticking to the same lie?”_

_“Zayn!”_

_“You guys have been fighting more than usual. He’s been home less and less. Something’s going on.”_

_His mother turned to look at him and her voice started to raise. “Nothing’s going on.”_

_Zayn stared at his mother. “He’s cheating on you, isn’t he? He’s cheating and you wanna protect him because you don’t wanna me to know what a jerk he really is?”_

_“Sweetheart, no. Look, this doesn’t concern you.”_

_“Why don’t you just leave him?” Zayn said angrily. “We don’t need him. He doesn’t do anything. We could move away from here. I could help take care of Harry.”_

_“We do need him. I need him, Zayn. I know you don’t understand but I love your father very much. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. And I’m telling you this family wouldn’t work without him.” She said before she turned to walk out from the living room._

_“You’re just afraid. You tell me that I should be brave. You tell me that I should take risks. What about you?”_

_His mother stopped walking and turned to look at him again. “Zayn, it’s not that simple.”_

_Zayn snorted angrily. “Forget it.” He said before he headed towards his bedroom and slammed the door shut._

** 

“It’s a good ham, mom.” Louis says after he couldn’t bear the silence as his family is eating their dinner that night. Well, he just couldn’t be in silence. 

“Well, thank you dear.” Maura says as Bobby says. “Louis, could you please pass the salt?” 

“I’m using it.” Niall replies as he reaches for the salt on the table. 

Bobby looks at his youngest son and scolws slightly at his attitude. “Well, when you’re done then.” 

“I’ll never done with the salt, ever.” Niall says as he turns to look at his father. Louis watches the exchange in curiosity before he pipes in. “What if I need the salt?” 

“Obviously you’re still upset with me. That’s fine.” Bobby says to Niall, totally ignoring Louis. 

Niall rolls his eyes. “Still upset? Should I be over your total betrayal of me me after only one day? Is that what you expected? Well, guess again because I’ll never be over it.” 

“All right. Let’s everyone just calm down.” Maura says and Louis nods, agreeing with his mother. 

“Liam’s furious at me. Okay? He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.” Niall says as he turns to looks at his mother. “And you know what? I don’t blame him.” He continues before he turns to look at his father again. “He trusted me and like an idiot, I trusted you. But that was obviously a huge mistake, wasn’t it?” 

Louis chews his vegetables quietly as he hears the conversation around him, or more likely, Niall’s loud voice as his younger brother is throwing his tantrum over their father’s ‘betrayal.’ 

“Nialler, you’re overreacting.” Bobby says. 

Niall scoffs. “Oh, do you understand the word ‘trust’, dad? Because I don’t think you do.” 

Louis flicks his eyes over his brother and his father again. Couldn’t they just let him eat in peace? 

“You know, I simply inquired about Liam’s health much the same way that you came to me.” Bobby says, defending his action. 

“I came to you in confidence, like a son goes to a father. Not like a doctor goes to another doctor he doesn’t even like.” Niall quips. 

“I mentioned Liam in passing. I was worried about your friend.” 

Niall slams his fork on the table. “My boyfriend! Boyfriend.” He says loudly and starts to stand up. “God, I can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner. It’s so obvious what you’re doing.” 

Bobby shakes his head in confusion as he tilts his head to look at his son who is currently doesn’t want to sit down. “What are you talking about?” 

“Oh please, you’re trying to keep Liam and me apart. You’re not worried about Liam’s health. You’re worried that I may be growing up too fast and you don’t like it. And that’s just too damn bad.”

“That is enough!” Maura says suddenly, her voice sterns as she looks at her youngest son. “Niall, you can go to your room and stay there until I tell you to come out.” 

Niall shakes his head stubbornly. “No, mom! You know it’s true! If it were up to him, I’d still be getting cootie shots every time a boy touched me!” He says as he looks at his mother. Then he turns around to face his father again. “I love Liam. I love him more than anything else in the entire world. And after what you did I won’t be able to trust you ever again with anything!” 

“Niall James! Any more of this and you won’t get to talk to Liam for a week because that’s how long you’ll be grounded for.” Maura says strictly.

Niall huffs angrily before he storms out of the room, slamming the side door shut on his way out. Louis watches as his parents look at each other worriedly and to be honest, Louis himself is worried about his brother’s attitude. 

**

“Where you been?” Yasir asks as soon as Zayn enters the house using the backdoor. 

“Out.” Zayn snaps. 

“What the hell is your problem, Zayn? I know that going back to London is difficult for you. But you’re not the only one who is having a hard time with it.” 

“You think that’s what this is about?” 

“Well, I don’t know what’s this is about because you won’t tell me!” 

Zayn stares at his father coldly. “Last year, right before Mom died, you said you were in Boston but you never went. Where were you?” 

“What has this got to do..?” 

“Answer the question!” Zayn demands, raising his voice angrily. 

“I don’t remember.” Yasir replies. 

“Yes, you do. You’re a liar. You know exactly where you were.” 

“Look. If I told you that I went to Boston, then I probably did. I attended at least a dozen seminars…” 

“There was no seminar. I checked! All I want to know is who you were with and how can you live with yourself?”

Yasir feels his heart drops at Zayn’s accusation. “You think I cheated on your mother?” 

“I know you did! I remember the day you left! I remember the fight! I was practicing my piece for the recital, the one you couldn’t make it to. Gee, I wonder why. Were you with her that night too?! Were you with her the night Mom died?!” 

Yasir takes a step closer towards Zayn and stares at his son. “You listen to me. I never cheated on your mother. You understand me? Never. And if you ever say that again, I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.” 

“Well then, what happened? I mean I know something happened. What?”

Yasir takes a step back and shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter.” 

“Yes it does! It matters to me! And you owe it to me for every time in my life that you weren’t there, that you didn’t show up, that you didn’t give a damn. You owe me the truth now because I’m asking for it and I’m not gonna disappear into my room the way I used to. And mom’s not here to cover for you. It’s just you and me, right now.” Zayn says and pauses. “Tell me. I need to know.” 

Yasir sighs and slumps against the sink. “You’re right Zayn. I didn’t go to Boston. I was staying at the hotel in the city. I had to get away.” He says and pauses as he looks at Zayn. “Your mother and I were fighting.” 

Zayn feels tears brim in his eyes and he is trying his best to blink it away. “That much I know.” He mumbles. 

“I was just so tired. I didn’t want to fight anymore, so I just left. I didn’t know what else to do. And then I got scared.”

“Scared of what?” 

“That she would see him again.” Yasir says and Zayn feels like a bomb has been dropped on his head. 

“See who?” Zayn asks, afraid of knowing the answer by the way his father’s look at the moment. 

“Your mother met someone, Zayn. I was never going to tell you.” 

Zayn shakes his head frantically. “No, no. You’re lying. You’re a liar.” 

“Listen to me.” Yasir says as he tries to reach Zayn but Zayn backs away. 

“You are a liar. It was you.” 

“Listen to me, it wasn’t her fault. It was mine. I was never there.” 

“I would’ve known. She would’ve told me.” Zayn says, his voice wavers disbelievingly. 

“You can’t blame her, Zayn. I was never there for her. I was never there for all of you.” 

“I don’t believe you. No, no..” 

“It doesn’t mean anything, Zayn. Your mother is the same woman you always thought she was. Nothing has changed. Nothing.” 

Zayn wipes away the tears that manage to escape his eyes and shakes his head. “No, it’s all different now. Everything’s different.” 

**

Bobby takes a seat beside Yasir at the diner as he looks at the barista across the counter. “Coffee.” He orders. 

“You look about as awful as I feel.” Yasir points out as he looks at Bobby. 

Bobby rolls his eyes. “I got bad news for you. You look about as awful as you feel.” He says. “So, how’s Liam?” 

Yasir shakes his head. “I wouldn’t know. I’m no longer his doctor. In fact, I’d expect a phone call pretty soon if I were you.” 

Bobby sighs. “Normally I’d relish the opportunity to steal a patient from you doctor but I am going to pass on this one. My youngest son already hates me enough as it is.”

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “Oh really? When did that happen?” 

“Details aren’t important. Although I could blame you.”

“Go ahead. Everyone else does.” Yasir deadpans. 

“Suffice it to say that my child won’t talk to me anymore.” Bobby says. “Apparently I’ve broken a sacred trust by simply voicing an honest concern.”

“Well, it makes you feel any better, Zayn’s not talking to me right now either.” 

Bobby raises his eyebrows. “Big deal. He never talks to you. You’re used to it. Niall and I have a special relationship.” 

“Had. Had a special relationship.” Yasir quips.

Bobby sighs. “It’s an impossible predicament. They don’t want us to treat them like children but when you try to talk to them like adults, they act like…”

“Teenagers.” Yasir finishes the sentence for Bobby. 

Bobby nods. “Exactly.” He says before he glances over at Yasir and smirks. “I still blame you.”

**

“Hey can I borrow some of your notes from..?” Liam trails off mid sentence as he enters his brother’s room. “Where are you going?” He asks as he points to the big luggage on Jamie’s bed. 

“Back to boarding school.” Jamie replies as he puts some of his things into the luggage. 

Liam looks at his brother. “Why?” 

“I just feel like I was doing so much better there.” Jamie replies simply. “Teachers are smarter, the classes..” 

“Jamie..” Liam says as he reaches for Jamie’s arm, stopping his brother from rambling. He knows that’s not the true reason why Jamie wants to leave for boarding school again. 

Jamie blinks back his tears and refuses to look at Liam. “I can’t stay here anymore, Liam. You’re sick and nobody wants to deal with it. And I don’t want to make you sad but I just can’t be here anymore.” He says, his voice thicks from the tears that he’s been holding. “I feel like everything’s gonna fall apart again and I don’t want to be here when it does.” 

“Hey, nothing’s gonna happen. Everything’s gonna be fine, I promise.” Liam says assuringly. 

Jamie turns to look at Liam. “You won’t be mad if I go, right? Just don’t be mad at me.” 

Liam smiles softly and shakes his head. “Of course I won’t be mad. I just..” He trails off and reaches over to Jamie and hugs him. “I’ll miss you.” 

Jamie hugs his brother in return and feels his heart breaks, knowing that it could be the last time that he can hug his brother. “So, call me?” 

Liam nods against Jamie’s shoulder. “I will.” 

**

“It’s getting late.” Zayn says as he enters his father’s office. 

Yasir looks up from his desk and nods. “I know. I’m just wrapping up.” 

Zayn nods and both of them look at each other before Zayn starts to speak up. “I’ve been angry at you. I’ve been hating you for a long time now. And I was wrong. You never deserved to be treated that way. I’m sorry.” 

Yasir takes a deep breath as he looks at his son. “You know you don’t need to apologize, Zayn. I failed you as a father for 15 years. I was never there for you or your mother. That’s why sometimes you feel like throwing me off a cliff and that’s why your mother did what she did. But I don’t blame either of you for it. You know in the end, it was me who ended up begging her for forgiveness. I told her that things would be different, that I would change but I wouldn’t have. I might have been better for a while but then…”

“She loved you. She told me that. She told me that all the time.” Zayn says truthfully. 

“She loved you too. Very much.” 

“Yeah, but she lied to me.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “No, she didn’t. What happened between us had nothing to do with you. She was right not to tell you. I never should have.” 

“But still I’m glad you did.” Zayn says. “I was making her perfect in my mind and..” 

“Well, she was perfect. She was a perfect mother.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No, she wasn’t. But that’s okay. I don’t need her to be perfect anymore.”

Yasir stands up from his seat and walks towards his son. He puts his arms on Zayn’s shoulder as he is standing in front of his son and tries to look at Zayn’s eyes who looks at anywhere but him. “If you need to be angry, be angry Zayn. But then forgive her. Tomorrow we fly home to honor your mother in a way she deserves to be honored. Because maybe she wasn’t perfect but she was damn close.” Yasir says and pulls Zayn’s face closer, leaning down to kiss his son’s forehead gently. 

Zayn blushes slightly, not usually receive that kind of affection from his father especially at this age. “I’m gonna start packing.” He announces. “We leave early tomorrow so..” He rambles as he makes his way out of his father’s office. 

Yasir smiles at his son. “I’ll be home soon.” 

**

Niall puts down his book that he is reading when he hears a single knock on his door and his father enters his room. He rolls his eyes. “If you came here to apologize, you can forget it.” 

“Well, actually I wasn’t planning on apologizing.” Bobby says as he takes a seat on the edge of Niall’s bed. “Ni, I’m not sorry for what I did. And if I had to do it all over again, I would do exactly the same thing. You may not agree with all of my choices and you certainly won’t always like them. But you’re going to have to accept them because for the time being at least, I’m still the grownup here. So, slamming doors, throwing temper tantrums, that’s..well, that’s just obnoxious behavior. Quite frankly, that’s beneath you. If you’re angry with me about something, we can discuss it rationally or we can agree to disagree. I’ll leave that choice up to you.”

Niall stares at his father emotionlessly after the long speech. “Are you done?” 

Bobby nods. “Yes. I believe I am.” 

“Would you mind leaving me alone?” Niall says emotionlessly and rolls over to his side again, refusing to look at his father anymore. 

**  
 _  
“Have you gotten to the middle part yet?” Zayn turned to look at his mom. “No.” He replied._

_“I’ve been thinking about what you said before, trying to come up with some sort of answer that might explain, satisfy you in some way or another. But I don’t think you want me to rationalize why I do what I do.” His mom said before she continued. “We do what we do because we have no choice.”_

_Zayn stopped playing his piano and turned to look at his mother. “Of course you have a choice.”_

_“When you were about 3 years old, we went to Nonnie and Grandpa’s house for dinner. I think it was their anniversary. Anyway, all the grownups were in the kitchen, having our coffee when suddenly I heard this music coming from the living room. I walked out and saw you sitting on the piano bench. You weren’t just banging away like a regular 3-year-old. You were making music.”_

_Zayn shook his head. “I doubt it was..”_

_“It was music. The whole family one by one started coming out. Nonnie pulled out her camera and started flashing away like a maniac. But you didn’t even look up. You just kept hitting one key after another, hearing something. And that was it, Zayn. You never stopped playing after that. I don’t know what led you to the piano that day. I don’t know what’s kept you coming back day after day since then but you do it. Do you know why?”_

_“No.” Zayn mumbled his reply._

_“It’s because you have no choice. Even if you quit, even if you decided you were sick of spending so many hours practicing every day, you’d find your way back to this bench. Because you and your talent, you’re inseparable. There isn’t one without the other. Well, that’s me and your father.” She said and Zayn looked at her as she continued. “We don’t exist without the other. We’re just..one. No matter what happens, no matter how bad the fight is, there’s no choice. We’re together. Me and him and us. This family. We’re a unit. You can’t question, you can’t fight it. You just have to give in to it. Even when it hurts.” She said as she looked at Zayn. “Does that make sense?”_

_It took a few seconds before Zayn finally nodded. “Yeah.” He said before he started to play the piano again. His mother stood up and smiled at him. “Well, keep practicing, I don’t want to bother you.”_

_Zayn stopped playing abruptly. “You don’t have to go.” He said when his mother turned around to look at him. “I..I play better when you’re here.” And from the corner of his eyes, he saw that his mother was sitting behind him and he kept playing with a smile on his face._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to: Everwood


	19. The new Liam?

_  
“Come on. Come on.” Liam taunted as Louis bounced the ball in front of him and sneaked passed Liam to score the ball into the net._

_“Yes! That’s 10!” Louis exclaimed as the ball went smoothly into the net. They kept playing again and Louis kept scoring. “11-6! Nuggest win!” He announced as he looked at Liam._

_“Like you’d make the Nuggets.” Liam quipped._

_“I could one day. I’m gonna be tall.” Louis announced in his confident 12-year-old’s voice. “My dad’s tall.”_

_“Louis!” Someone called him and Louis turned around to find his little brother. “What?”_

_“Mom says you have to come inside and do your homework.” Niall said and Louis rolled his eyes._

_“Mom says a lot of things. Tell her I’m outside reading.” Louis said._

_Niall clutched the small puppet toy in his hand and shook his head. “No, you’re not. You’re playing basketball with your dumb friend.”_

_“Shut up.” Liam said to Niall, annoyed with Louis’s younger brother._

_Niall turned around as he stomped his foot into the house. “Mom! Louis hit me!” He whined and Louis and Liam just laughed._

_Louis then turned around to bounce the ball again and focused on the net. “Watch this one.” He said to Liam and threw the ball up to the net._

“You always score for the 3.” Louis turns around at Liam’s voice and just stares at his friend as Liam continues. “And you always miss too.” 

Louis snorts. “You think you can do better?” 

Liam shrugs. “Well, maybe.” 

“One-armed bandit?” Louis says, starting to look at Liam and his eyes go wide when Liam is no longer wearing a sling on his right arm and starts to jump around to put the ball into the net. “Dude!” Louis calls out as he looks at Liam after he scores. “What, are you holding out on me, man?” 

Liam laughs. “Maybe.” 

“What about the sling?” Louis asks. 

“That is history. As of two minutes ago, I finished my rehab.” Liam announces happily as he picks up his sling from the ground. “The only thing left to do is to trash this old thing and my doctors say I’m officialy back from the shop. Good as new. Gone for good, the gimp has retired.” He says as he fistbump with Louis and continues. “Like you’re about to be.” 

Louis grins widely. “You can play?” 

“Better than you, my friend.” Liam brags mockingly. 

Louis laughs and snorts. “Oh, you think so?” 

“Oh, I know so.” 

“All right.” Louis says as he passes the ball to Liam and Liam jumps and scores the ball into the net easily. 

“Yeah!” They both shout together before it is Louis’s turns to shoot. 

“Louis!” Niall calls out when he steps to his backyard and stops abruptly as he looks at the scene. Louis is playing the basketball happily with Liam and from the look of it, Niall can see how healthy Liam is now. And that’s enough to make him smile. 

**

“She never gets tired.” Zayn deadpans. 

“I know. She doesn’t even drink coffee. She’s like an X-file.” Niall replies as they are standing beside each other during their music class. Their teacher has made them standing for nearly an hour to sing without a break and both of them are antsy to leave the class already. 

“Explain to me how this is an elective when nobody wants to be here.” Zayn says and Niall glances over to look at him before the teacher calls out for their names. “Niall, Zayn, less hablo, more vibrato.” She says and both Niall and Zayn chuckle at being caught. 

“Oh, Liam, hello.” The teacher says as Liam enters the room and Niall looks at her direction. Well the whole class look at her direction apparently. “What do you need, honey?” 

“I’m sorry to bother you, Mrs. Hanson. But I need Niall Horan right now.” He says politely and of course the teacher melts under his charm. 

“Of course, dear.” She says before she turns to look at Niall. “Niall.” She calls and beckons for Niall to come. “Is everything all right?” She asks Liam. 

Liam nods and smiles sweetly at the teacher. “Yeah. It’s just Mr. Horan needs to play hooky for the rest afternoon. It’s rather urgent.” 

Zayn admits that Liam is really good at manipulative the teacher and rolls his eyes at the bullshit excuse to sneak Niall out from the class. When their eyes meet, Liam smirks at Zayn and Zayn couldn’t help but smirks back. What a cheeky lad, he thought. 

**

“Let’s go! Bring it in! Bring it in! Hustle!” The coach barks as the team make their ways to the bench. “Let’s play a little five-on-five. Horan, Marlowe, captains.” The coach says and Louis walks to the front. 

When the coach tells him to pick, the first person he points out is of course his best friend. “Liam Payne.” He calls out and of course the other students clap for him. Louis high-five Liam as Liam reaches to him but then the coach suddenly blows his whistles to get their attention. 

“Sorry, Liam. Can’t play today.” The coach says. 

Liam shakes his head at the coach. “No, it’s cool. The sling came off yesterday.” Liam says, already excited to go out there and plays basketball again. 

“Good for you. Now step aside.” The coach says sternly. 

“No, seriously coach. It’s all right. I can play.” Liam tries to tell the coach as he bounces the ball easily. 

“Hey, I don’t care if you can dunk from the outside line. Until I see a doctor’s note, you’re knitting bootees in the bleachers so take a powder.” 

Louis watches as Liam’s face fall and everyone is booing the coach but that’s least at his worry now. What worries him is how Liam looks really mad as he storms out of the court. 

Louis stares at the door, watching Liam goes and suddenly Zayn enters the court through the door and the coach scowls at him. “Late again, Malik.” 

“I got stuck in lab.” Zayn explains. “Still working on my study why playing sports makes you call people by their last name.” He deadpans and Louis snickers at Zayn’re remarks. 

“That’s cute. Why don’t you throw your sweats on? Give me a lap for every minute that you’re late.” The coach says and Louis watches as Zayn rolls his eyes and turns to change his shirt at the locker room. 

**

Zayn whines as he tries to put on his sock. “Come on. You’re sock. Why do you have to fight me the whole way up?” He says before suddenly his head snaps up at the sound of glass breaking. He runs toward the source only to find Liam in the coach’s room, holding a bat, trashing the things inside the room angrily. Zayn stands still, stunned at Liam’s action and by the time the other students and the coach enters the room, almost entire things in the room had been broken by Liam. Zayn knows this is not normal behavior. He feels worried for Liam suddenly and when his eyes caught on Louis’s who is behind the coach, trying to grab Liam to stop his trashing, Zayn knows that Louis is worried too. 

** 

“I’d much rather we weren’t in this position.” The principal says and Zayn remains silent as he sits in the principal’s office, along with Liam besides him, “There’s a very short list of things we do not and cannot tolerate from our students.” The principal continues. “Destruction of property tops that list. And that’s what you saw?” He then turns to ask Zayn and Zayn nods slowly. 

The principal turns to look at Liam after that. “We know you’ve been through a lot this year. And with the obstacles you’ve had to face, it’s not surprise that certain frustration can become, you know, unbearable.” Liam almost rolls his eyes at the principal’s words. “Not that that’s an excuse. Nevertheless, if I understand this correctly, this incident was not without provocation.” 

“Benching you, that was..wasn’t exactly sensitive of me. I was doing a bunch of stuff at once and I’m sorry, Liam.” The coach who is standing nearby silently suddenly speaks up. 

Liam glares at the coach and Zayn is mentally screaming for the session to finish because it is obviously as awkward as hell. 

“Fortunately, no one was hurt in this. And since nothing of value is damaged, I don’t think it’s necessary to get parents involved. Perhaps it’s best if we just put this whole incident behind us.” The principal says and Zayn really rolls his eyes this time. “Agreed?” 

Liam quickly nods. “Sure.” 

“So that’s it?” Zayn blurts out. He couldn’t help it. It feels like everyone doesn’t want to deal with Liam’s situation. That Liam is not exactly alright. 

“Yes, Zayn. That’s it.” 

**

“What if they expel him?” Niall asks worriedly as he paces in front of the principals office. Louis who is sitting on the chair, shaking his head. “Liam’s like Teflon. They can’t touch him.” Louis says assuringly. 

Niall bites his nails nervously. “We could get the doctors to say they can’t expel him, that he needs the structure or something. They know there’s no way he’d do something like that, right?” Niall rambles. 

Louis sighs and shakes his head. “I don’t know.” He replies truthfully. 

When the door of the principal’s office is opens, Niall turns his head sharply and Liam smiles at him. “What did they say?” Niall asks. 

Liam shrugs and smiles. “It’s all cool.” 

Niall couldn’t help but to be surprised. “Really?” He asks and at the same time Zayn walks passes them and mumbles, “it is now.” Niall seems not to notice but Liam hears that and so does Louis. 

** 

“Liam!” Liam turns around to Louis’s voice and smiles as Louis grins brightly at him. “You want to play some ball?” Louis asks as soon as he reaches Liam. 

Liam shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know. You think Mr. Austin will let me on this time?” 

“Ah, pretty safe bet. He really thinks you freaked out on him.” Louis says. 

Liam frowns. “What do you mean?” 

“Yeah, you were just using the whole coma boy ‘get out of jail free’ cards. Playing it up, right?” Louis says, suddenly uncertains as he looks at Liam’s face. 

Liam forces a smile as he looks at Louis. “Definitely. You’d do the same thing, right?” 

Louis chuckles. “Definitely.” 

Liam glances over Louis’s shoulder as he spots Zayn and waves Louis off, promise that he will catch up with Louis later. He then jogs slightly as he tries to reach Zayn who is heading towards his bike. 

“Hey.” Liam greets. 

Zayn glances over as he looks at Liam. “What’s going on?” 

“You wanna shoot some hoops?” Liam asks casually. 

Zayn shakes his head. “Nah, that’s all right. I’m on dinner duty.” 

Liam nods. “You know, yesterday in principal’s office, why’d you try to sell me out?” Liam asks as he looks at Zayn. 

Zayn stops his movement and looks at Liam. “I didn’t sell you out.” 

Liam rolls his eyes. “’That’s it?’ I mean, what was that?” 

Zayn shrugs. “It caught me off guard. You gotta admit it was pretty messed up.” Zayn says bluntly. 

Liam shakes his head. “It was no big deal.” 

“No big deal? You took a bat to the teacher’s office.” Zayn points out. 

“Hey, he started it.” Liam replies defensively. 

“What about the car window? Did he start it too? Or the trophy case?” Zayn says and Liam looks so shock because he thought no one saw on what he did to the trophy case. “Yeah, I figured it out. I’m not stupid.” Zayn adds. 

“Hey, listen man. I’m fine. I mean, I wasn’t for a long time but I beat it, you know.” Liam rambles. “I mean, I can read, I can hold numbers in my head. I can bench-press 160. You know I lost a lot but I can make new memories, man. I’m doing good again.” 

“Yeah, you’re doing good. But that guy in there, with the bat, wasn’t you.” Zayn says. 

Liam’s figure slumps dejectedly. “All right, so I lost it. But I got it under control.” He says but when Zayn is looking at him disbelievingly, Liam sighs. “Fine. You can keep me in line. You can help me.” 

Zayn snorts. “Help you cover?” 

“Man, would you get over this?” Liam says, suddenly angry with Zayn’s judgemental look on him. “The rest of the world already has.” 

“Maybe if I knew you when you were the golden boy I can ignore it too but right now, you scare me.” Zayn admits. 

Liam shakes his head in resignation. “Okay. If that’s the way you want it.” 

“That’s not much of a choice.” Zayn says before he turns around with his bike. 

“What is this? Some pathetic last-ditch effort to get me off Niall,huh?” Liam snaps and he grabs Zayn’s jacket. “To get him to think that I’m still being spoon-fed applesauce?” He adds. “You know, no wonder my brother took off and left you alone.” 

Zayn glares at Liam. “You believe whatever you want. Rest of the world already does.” He adds before he starts to ride his bike, leaving Liam alone. 

Liam watches as Zayn takes off and calls out for his friend. “Hey, come on. Wait. Don’t. Zayn! Dude, it’s not what you think!” He tries to yell but Zayn seems like he doesn’t want to listen to him again. “You watch! I’m not like that! I’m not like that!” 

**

“One more try and that bitch is yours.” Niall says as he enters the music room and listens to Zayn’s piano playing. 

“I’m skipping ahead, thanks.” Zayn replies shortly. 

Niall steps forward and leans on the piano as he looks at Zayn. “Is that for your recital?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “No. The recital piece I can actually play. This is impossible. The reason Liszt wrote it was so nobody else could play it. I try to prove him wrong when I need to get out of my head.”

Niall nods. “Liam said you tried to get him busted. You told the principal on him.” He starts. 

“That makes sense.” 

“Did you?” 

 

“Look, I promise, you pick any othe subject and we’ll talk for hours.” Zayn says. “Art? Horses? I’ll even do sports. You know I heard our field hockey team demolished Ben Franklin.” 

Niall smiles slightly at Zayn’s attempt to change the topic and shakes his head. “Just tell me what happened.” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Let me guess. Liam told you I might tell you he was sick so you’d doubt him. Am I right?” 

Niall nods slowly. 

Zayn snorts. “And yet, everyone thinks I’m dumber than I am. Why is that? Do I dress dumb?” He snaps as he stands up from the bench, heading towards the door. 

Niall turns around and look at Zayn’s back before he starts to speak. “It’s your fault, you know.” He says and Zayn stops walking and turns to face him. “Hey, you’re the one that told me to have faith. You’re the one who told me that I couldn’t give up on Liam even if I tried, remember?” Niall adds. “Look, I promised Liam that I’d stay on his side no matter what and I will. Liam’s alive. He got his arm back. Ninety-five percent of him is exactly what it was before the accident. And everyone wants to concentrate on the 5 percent that’s still broken?” 

When Zayn remains silent, Niall continues. “I mean, come on Zayn. Liam’s been through hell to get where he is. Believe me whatever it is that’s wrong now, he can handle it.” 

Zayn shakes his head as he holds Niall’s gaze. “No, he can’t.” 

“Well then, I can.” Niall says. 

“Good luck with that.” Zayn says before he turns around and leaves. 

**

Yasir stops writing as he senses someone standing near him but no voice is out. “You know, you’re doing that lingering thing that I do, which you hate.” He says as he looks at Zayn. “Something wrong?” 

It takes a few seconds before Zayn starts to burst out with words. “There’s something wrong with Liam. I don’t know. He’s been having these weird episodes.” 

“Seizures?” 

“No. It’s more like he’s Hulk-ing out. I don’t know how to describe it.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “He got violent?” 

Zayn nods. “He didn’t hurt anybody but he could have. What the hell’s wrong with him?” 

Yasir frowns. “I was hoping the nausea would be the end of it. Well, it could be any number of things or it could be nothing at all.” 

“Can you do something?” 

“I wish I could. His parents won’t let me get near him long enough to find out what’s happening.” 

“Talk to them.” Zayn urges. 

Yasir shakes his head. “I told them. They don’t want to hear it.” 

“Everybody else already knows. A teacher saw him freak out. I watched them sweep it under the rug. No one wants to see him as anything but a miracle. How can you and I be the only ones willing to say anything?”

“I don’t know.” Yasir answers truthfully. “Maybe it’s like your comics. Sometimes you just need to tune out and be in a world that does what you want it to. Some people can’t put the book down.” 

**

“Pick up for Malik.” Liam turns his head at the sound of the voice and of course, it’s Zayn who is standing at the counter at the pizza place. 

“Look who decided to show up.” Liam starts as he stops playing the pool with Louis and walks toward Zayn. “Keeping an eye on me? Making sure I stay out of trouble, officer?” He says as he puts down his glass on the counter, too loudly that making Zayn startles. “I’m sorry. Did I slam that too hard? Because that wouldn’t be me.”

Zayn just rolls his eyes as he picks up his pizza. He ignores Liam as he starts to walk out of the restaurant. Liam follows Zayn and Louis who had been watching the exchange ealier, follows both of them worriedly. 

“You and I need to talk.” Liam says and Zayn finally turns around as they stand outside the restaurant. 

“You got something to say to me?” Zayn asks. 

Liam shrugs. “I might.” 

“Go for it.” Zayn challenges. 

“You decide to keep your mouth shut yet?” Liam asks. His tone is clearly angry but Zayn wouldn’t bulge. 

“I don’t have to. You’re only getting by because dumbo here,” Zayn says, pointing at Louis, “..and the world has decided to kiss your ass.” 

“I’m getting by because there’s nothing wrong with me!” Liam spits. 

“Oh, you’re good judge of that.” Zayn says sarcastically. “I bet you thought it’d stop with the puking. It didn’t. You got a lot worse up ahead. That’s probably why Jamie left. But good job keeping everybody else in line. What did you do to keep Niall quiet? Threaten to break up with him?” 

That’s when Liam snaps as he jumps on Zayn and both of them fall on the ground. “Pretty calm for a little man.” Liam growls. 

Louis steps closer to both of them as he eyes Liam worriedly. Liam that he knew before would never attack someone like this. “Hey, take it easy.” 

“Relax. We’re just talking.” Liam says, gritting his teeth. He then yanks Zayn to stand and shoves Zayn to the wall, starting to twist Zayn’s arm. 

Louis moves and tries to hold Liam back from hurting Zayn. “Man, get off him. He’s had enough.” Louis says as Liam struggles under his hold and once he gets away, he turns to look at Louis angrily. 

“What the hell, Lou? Are you on his side now?” Liam shouts angrily. 

“Don’t be crazy man!” Louis shouts back. 

“Crazy! Is that what you think?” Liam says as he starts to shove Louis’s body. “That I’m sick? Is that what you think?” Liam growls angrily. 

“Starting to!” And that’s when Louis fall down on the ground, courtesy of Liam’s fist on his left cheek. Liam punches him for couple of times and Louis is too stunned to react. When Liam realizes what he had done, he looks like he almost want to cry and turns around, takes off from the scene. Louis and Zayn glance at each other worriedly. There is definitely something wrong with Liam. 

**

“Hey Lou, guess what?” Niall calls out for his brother as soon as Louis steps into the house. But his smile drops as soon as Louis turns around to face him. “Oh my God.” Niall says as he looks at Louis’s face. 

Louis shrugs. “Yeah.” 

Niall takes a closer look at his brother and he frowns worriedly. “You okay? What happened?” He asks. 

Louis shakes his head. “Nothing.” He says and when Niall is still looking at him, Louis just says, “Liam.” 

“What did you do?” Niall asks. 

Louis feels his blood boils at Niall’s question. “What did _I_ do?” 

“Yeah, what did you say? You probably said something inappro..” 

“You’re blaming this on me?” Louis snaps. “Look at what he did to me!” He points out at his swollen cheeks and trace of dried bloods near his jaw. “Liam did this.” 

Niall glances around and tells Louis to tone his voice down but Louis is having none of it. “I don’t like it any more than you but he has got some serious problems.” 

“No, he doesn’t!” 

“Oh, come on, Niall. How can you be so clueless? You’re not talking to dad because of Liam. Now you’re gonna blame this on me? You’ve gotta stop, okay? You’ve seen him. You know he is not the person we grew up with! If he was, I wouldn’t still miss him!” 

Niall shakes his head stubbornly. “This is when he needs us, Lou! You can’t just give up on him now!” 

“Yes, I can.” Louis says before he starts to walk away. 

Niall is stunned for a moment before he grips his brother’s arm, trying to stop him. “Lou, please. Please, just don’t tell dad. Tell him it was from a game. That you fell. Please?” 

**

“How long is gonna be like that?” Liam asks Niall as Louis walks passes both of them without even glancing at their direction. 

“I don’t know.” Niall replies truthfully. He knows Louis is mad at him. 

“Is there anyone in your family that you’re still talking to?” 

Niall smiles sadly. “Down to my mum. Dinner’s getting kind of tense.” 

Liam watches as Niall’s face fall and grips the other boy’s hand in his. “Look, they’re just trying to get between us.” He says as Niall turns to look at him. “You know me better than anyone. You know it’s not like what they said. I mean, my best friend just turned on me and I got a little mad. What was I supposed to do?” 

Niall keep silent as he turns his head away and looks down at his feet. “Look, you brought me back, Niall.” Liam tries again as he tilts Niall’s chin to look at him again. “You did. And there is nothing that is more important to me than us.” 

Niall holds Liam’s gaze and finally he cracks a smile. “I know. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to Everwood


	20. Compromise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for being a bad writer or maybe bad updater? *Sigh.* Just got tonnes of works to do at the new workplace. :( 
> 
> Anyway, my Narry feelings are resurfaced again lately and I just couldn't get Ziall feels in me anymore, so I have to re-read the whole thing and re-watch the whole Everwood series just to get start again. (I'm bad, I know.) 
> 
> So enough with meaningless rambling, here it is the latest chapter. Apologies in advance if it's boring or not as good as before.

“Thanks for the ride, Grandma. If it weren’t for you I’d probably never see Liam outside of school.” Niall says as he sits on the passenger seat while his grandmother is driving the truck. 

“You dad still isn’t driving you?” 

Niall shrugs. “I refuse to ask him for any favors. I mean, why would I give him the satisfaction of being dependent on him when I can be dependent on you instead?” He says as he looks at his grandmother and both of them chuckle. 

“I see your point. Although Mr. Randolph does have that taxi available.” Maggie says but Niall seems to be in his own world. 

“I mean, if he would just acknowledge the fact that he made a mistake, I might be able to forgive him but he won’t. He just thinks he’s totally right.” 

Maggie glances at his youngest grandson. “And you think he’s totally wrong?” 

Niall huffs. “I know he’s wrong but he acts all righteous and puffy like he’s so much smarter than me that I just wanna…” 

“Grab him by the hair and beat his head against the wall till he barks life a fox?” 

Niall rolls his eyes but smirks nonetheless. “Yeah.” He says. This is why he loves his grandmother, she understands him. 

“Believe me, I’ve been there. When I told your dad I was marrying Irv, you should have heard him go on. All puffed up like a damn blowfish. The trick is, don’t let him get to you. Remember, it’s all about power.” 

“Exactly. You’re so right.” Niall says. “You know, you’re the only person in the whole family that’s even tried to see my side of this. It’s like you’re the only one who gets me." 

“No, no.” 

“Hey, maybe you and Irv could come over for dinner tomorrow night.” Niall suggests as he looks at his grandma. “It’s been a kind of nightmare lately, but if you’re there, it might take some of the pressure off.” 

“Or it might piss off your pops.” 

Niall grins. “That’d just be a bonus.” They both laugh before Niall’s grandmother nods. “Count me in.” She says before her cellphone rings. 

“Hello.” She picks up and glances at Niall. “It’s for you.” She says as she passes the phone. 

“Oh, I gave Liam your number. Is that okay?” Niall asks. 

“Of course it’s okay.” 

Niall smiles happily. “Thanks Grams.” He says before he picks up the phone. “Hello? Oh, I miss you too.” 

 

**

 

“Now,be honest, but constructive.” Yasir says as he puts the plate in front of Harry.

Harry looks at the omelets on the plate and scrunches his nose at the smell. It looks nice. Well, nicer than what his father had made months before. He takes a deep breathe before he shoves his fork to eat the omelete. He chews it for a few seconds before he nods. “It’s good.” 

“Morning Zayn.” His father suddenly says and Harry turns to find his older brother steps into the kitchen. “Wanna try one of my soon-to-be-famous omelets?” 

Harry shrugs as Zayn looks at him for any clue on how it tastes. “It’s safe. I promise.” Harry says but Zayn shakes his head distractedly. “Ah, that’s alright. I should keep going.” Zayn says as he starts to walk towards the back door. “Did you pick up my suit?” He asks before he walks out. 

“Yeah, I picked both of ours up last night.” Yasir replies. “Do you think dark blue is appropriate for a Mullingar recital?” 

“Yeah, it should work.” 

“Good. I cancelled all my appointments on Friday. I don’t want anything to interfere at the big night.” 

“It’s a recital. It’s not that big a deal.” Zayn says as he waves his hand dismissively. 

Harry rolls his eyes at Zayn’s words. He knows Zayn is always like this. Always trying to tone down his talent. “Do you get to do the finale?” Harry asks Zayn and glances at his father. “He always gets the finale. It means he’s the best.” Harry says.

Zayn shakes his head. “I don’t know yet. The finale was a bigger deal back in London. Here I’m going to be playing with guys named Billy Jack who think arpeggio is pasta.” He says as he looks at Harry. Then he turns to look at his father. “You didn’t invite too many people, did you?” 

“No.” Yasir replies quickly and Harry stifles his chuckle at his father’s obvious lie. Zayn seems too distracted to notice and walks out the door without any other words. Once Zayn leaves, Harry grins at his father. “Don’t worry, dad. I got your back.” 

 

**

 

“Describe what it looks like.” Irv says and Maggie shakes her head. “It’s hard to. All I know is that it was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” She says. 

“I ran into Brenda Baxworth at the market. She’d been on the telephone to NASA trying to get somebody to identify it.” Maura pipes in. Apparently, something has landed on Mullingar’s forest and everybody in the town is buzzing about it. 

“There’s only one explanation.” Louis joins in. “Aliens.” 

“Lou!” Bobby calls out and Louis rolls his eyes at his father. “Oh, whatever. Yeah, don’t believe me. When the little green men come who do you think they’re gonna invite to board on their ship?” 

“We should be so lucky.” Niall replies sarcastically. 

“Why do we have to figure it out? Some things can’t be explained.” Irv says easily. “Stonehenge. Crop circles. Maggie’s adversion to cooking.” 

Maggie rolls her eyes. “You don’t like you’re starving to me, big fella.” She deadpans and her husband laughs. 

Bobby rolls his eyes at both of them. “Well I hate to end this aimless debate but the answer’s rather simple. The aurora borealis a.k.a the northern lights. Now can we please the change the subject to something less tedious?” 

“You’re wrong.” Niall says suddenly, without looking at his father. 

“Excuse me?” Bobby says as he looks at his youngest son. 

Niall turns his head to look at his father blankly. “The northern lights are caused by chemical reactions from solar winds colliding with air molecules and they only move on the Earth’s magnetic fields so you only see them closer to the poles. We’re too far south. And the clouds are very colorful. Red, blue, violet. The lights that we saw were white and moving around.” 

Louis gapes at his brother’s words. Niall freaks him out sometimes. “How do you know all that stuff, Mr. Honor Science?” Louis emphasizes the last sentence sarcastically. 

“God had to do something with the other half of your brain.” Niall deadpans. 

Louis rolls his eyes again. “Okay.” 

Niall ignores his brother as he turns to look at his grandmother. “Hey, grandma. Maybe you and I can figure out what it is together. It is like when we used to play X-Files. We can gather evidence on the Net, look for clues. It’ll be fun.”

“Well, except you’re forgetting that you are grounded.” Bobby pipes in. 

“What for?” Maggie asks, she obviously doesn’t know this piece of information. 

“Mulder here blew the curfew last night came in late from Liam’s.” Maura explains. 

Niall rolls his eyes. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like I’m doing something or going anywhere that counts as fun. No offense.” He glances at his grandma. 

Maggie smiles. “None taken.” 

“We’re just gonna solve a scientific mystery.” Niall adds. “I’m still grounded.” He says as he looks straight at his father. 

Louis sighs internally and decides that he will be the one who will break the tension during dinner time. Again. So he opens his mouth and speaks up. “Do you think if aliens would probe you, you’d still be considered a virgin?” 

 

**

 

Zayn is talking to one of the kids at the auditorium when Jonathan barges through the door. “Hey guys. Sorry I’m late.” He apologizes. “Okay, so the recital is in two days. I think we’d change things up a bit by rehearsing together until then. So right now, I want you guys to split up into groups of two. And the person you pair up will be your page-turner during rehearsals. But you should have your music memorized before the show and I’ll let you know by Friday what the order for the show will be.” 

“Zayn, you’re with Kate and you guys will play first tonight.” Jonathan says and Zayn nods. He looks at the girl besides him. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” The girl, Kate replies shortly.

“So, how’s it going?” Zayn starts, trying to warm up with his partner. 

“Good.” 

“How long have you been with Jon?” 

“A couple of years. You?” 

“Oh, just a few months.” Zayn says. This is getting awkward cause apparently both of them are bad at making small talks. “You wanna go first or should I go first?” 

“I’m already memorized so..” 

“Okay, well, my stuff’s in my bag.” 

“No worries.” Kate says as she shakes her head. “I’ll just go.” She says before she takes a seat and starts to play. And hell, Zayn is amazed. He feels challenged and it makes me feel like he wants to do better at the recital. 

 

**

 

Harry looks at his father as the older man enters the backdoor. “Where were you?” 

“After spending the early-morning hours delivering the last of the invitations. I decided to go shopping.” Yasir replies as he puts his groceries bags on the kitchen counter. “I was supposed to get regular cups, right?” 

Harry nods. “Yeah, so, what did you get?”

“Well, you said you couldn’t remember which kid Mom got so..” Yasir says as he opens up the bags and pulls out tonnes of plastic cups. “Fortunately, Mr. Johnson just had a shipment of 16-ounce solos. They were a steal. So what do you think? Does red say recital or what?” 

Harry rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “I don’t know, Dad. You might have to take some back.” 

“Either that or throw a kegger.” Zayn’s voice suddenly interrupting as he enters the kitchen area. “What are all these for?” He asks as he looks at bunch of plastic cups on the table. 

“For your guests.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “What guests?” 

“Four people just RSVP’d. I hand-delivered the invites myself.” 

“Good, then you can take them back.” 

“What? The cups?” 

“No, the invitations.” 

“Was the recital canceled?” Yasir asks and this is the time when Harry wants to bang his head on the table. 

Zayn shakes his head. “No, I just decided I don’t want anybody there. No big deal.” 

“It’s a big deal.” Yasir protests. “What..? Could you at least tell me why?” 

“Because it’s my recital and I don’t want anybody there.” Zayn deadpans. 

Yasir frowns as he looks at his eldest son. “Does this have something to do with Mom? I know your last recital..” 

“No, it’s got nothing to do with that.” Zayn replies firmly. “That’s now what everything’s about.” 

“Then, what is it about?” Yasir asks confusingly. 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Just because it’s not Mom doesn’t mean I’m gonna tell you.” 

“I guess I’m supposed to be happy with that.” 

Zayn nods. “Yeah.” Is his only reply before he takes off. 

Harry looks at his father. “We could throw a pregger.” He jokes and by the way his dad is looking at him, he knows the joke is not funny at all. 

 

**

 

“Oh, Zayn’s recital.” Niall mumbles to himself as he looks at the card. “Cool.” He says as he closes his locker’s door. He tilts his head to the right and of course, he spots Zayn who is walking towards him. “I see your dad went for the fancy lettering.” 

“Yeah. I didn’t know he sent you one.” 

Niall smiles as he looks at Zayn. “So, are you nervous?” 

Zayn shrugs. “I try not to think about it.” 

“I know what you mean. My last recitals are always so stressful. My dad invites like a million people.” Niall rambles and when Zayn remains silence, he continues. “Well, consider me RSVP anyway.” 

“You sure about that?” Zayn asks bluntly. 

“Yeah, I mean..” Niall stammers as his smile drops. “…unless you don’t want me to be there?” 

Zayn shrugs. “I just..I don’t know if it’s the best idea.” 

“You afraid you’ll mess up or something?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “Look, Niall. I appreciate you trying to act like everything’s normal with this Liam thing but we both know it’s not. And I think its best if we just, you know, kept our distance for a while, don’t you?” 

Niall feels his heart breaks slightly at the suggestion and he doesn’t even know why. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He says as he refuses to look at Zayn’s face. He passes the card back to Zayn, “good luck,” before he walks away. 

 

**

 

Zayn watches as Niall walks away from him and sighs. He turns around and spots Kate. “Hey.” He greets. 

“Hey.” 

“Have you always gone to this school?” Zayn asks curiously because how come he doesn’t notice her before? 

“Not by choice.” Kate replies shortly. 

“That’s weird. I never noticed you before.” 

“Should you have?” 

“Well, I like to know when I’m in the presence of greatness.” Zayn says and Kate rolls his eyes. “I mean, I thought I was good but you were amazing.” Zayn admits. 

“So you didn’t notice that my dynamics were off, my fingering was wrong and I rushed the tempo on the allegro?” 

“No, I’m just glad I’m not gonna have to play after you.” 

“How do you know you’re not?” Kate asks. 

Zayn shrugs. “Well, because you’re the best. The best player always goes last.” 

Kate shakes her head. “I could play that piece perfectly and I still wouldn’t make the finale slot.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrows. “I think Jon knows what he’s doing.” 

“Jon does know what he’s doing. Trust me, Liberace has a better shot at the finale slot than I do.” Kate says before the bell rings and she takes off, leaving Zayn with the most confusing conversation ever. 

 

**

 

“No, no. Wait. Go back to the phosphorescent minerals.” Niall nods and clicks as his grandmother asks him to. 

“That theory doesn’t make sense Grandma.” Niall says. 

Maggie looks at her grandson. “Why not?” 

“Because..hurm..” Niall trails off as he is distracted by the new instant message on the computer. It’s from Liam and Niall smiles as he replies the message before he continues. “..light from minerals would be seen just above the earth surface. The lights were too high in the atmosphere for that.” He explains as another chirping sounds appear. 

“What’s that?” Maggie asks as she takes a look at the computer’s screen. “Newpayne”? 

“Oh, that’s just an Internet thing.” Niall replies smoothly, knowing that his grandmother is not really good with the internet thing. 

Maggie just nods and continues to read the paper in her hand. “All right, what else that we got?” 

Niall scrolls through the website and adjusts his reading sunglasses as he reads the words. “How about ball lightning or meteor showers or renegade comets?” 

“Well, that’s about as likely as aliens.” 

Niall grins and puts down his glasses as he rubs his eyes tiredly. “Well Grandma, I think the internet has taken us about as far as it can.” 

Maggie shakes her head. “No we can’t quit now. If I don’t come back with a scientific explanation I have to give Irv 50 bucks and three hot meals a week. And we’re talking stove hot, no microwave.” 

Niall chuckles at his grandma’s reaction. “I’m not suggesting that we quit.” He says. “I’m just saying that we should take this investigation to the next level, you know, do a little field research. We could camp out, hang with alien freaks, roast marshmallows. It’ll be fun.” Niall suggests as he looks at his grandmother. 

“You forgetting the definition of the term ‘grounded’”? Bobby’s voice is heard as he stands at Niall’s room door. 

Niall rolls his eyes. “You eavesdrop now. Good to know.” Niall quips sarcastically. 

Maggie turns to look at her son. “What do you say, Bob? You gonna give my grandson permission to go off base tomorrow night?” 

Bobby snorts. “Mother, you of all people should know that when a child is grounded, it’s equivalent as a prison sentence. That means no telephone, no TV and absolutely no going out.” 

“Well, where we’re going there are no phones, no television and with me as chaperon, it’ll be more like a prison than a prison.” 

Niall feels his smile forms on his face as he hears the words from his grandmother. She is so cool sometimes. “It’s practically like homework dad.” Niall says as he looks at his father. 

Bobby knows he shouldn’t look at those big blue eyes but deep down he knows he can never resists that adorable look of his youngest’s son face. He sighs heavily as he nods. “Fine. Fine. You may go and since it is practically like homework anyway, I want a 1000-word typed double-spaced report on the mystery of the Mullingar lights on my desk by Monday morning.” 

Niall gapes as he looks at his father disbelievingly. “You have got to be kidding me.” 

Bobby shakes his head. “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.” 

Niall rolls his eyes. “Fine! I’ll take it.” 

Maggie nods in satisfaction and starts to stand up. “All right. Tomorrow night at 1800 hours sharp.” She says to Niall before she turns to look at Bobby. “Good choice, Bob.” 

Bobby snorts again. “Yeah, as if I ever had one.” 

 

** 

 

“It’s better. But not exactly up to snuff, Kate. I’d log in some more rehearsal time before tomorrow if I were you.” Jon says after the girl finishes with her playing and Zayn feels like his eyes would bulge out from the socket. That was one of the best renditions that he have ever heard and for Jon to say that it’s not good enough, making Zayn nervous as hell for his performance. He barely listens on what Jon’s words after that but he reckons it is about the playing order. “I’ve made my decisions on the playing order so listen up.” And that makes Zayn listens. Jon looks at the paper in his hand before he calls out for the name as Zayn waits nervously. “Hank..Daniel..Evelyn..Afton..Chris..Laura..Kate and Zayn, you’re our anchor. Do us proud.” 

Zayn remains speechless as soon as Jon finishes and he can see that Kate doesn’t look happy at all with the decision. He remains speechless when Kate walks passes him and says, “what’d I tell you?” 

And it’s few hours later when he is alone with Jonathan to rehears his recital that he decides to talk about the older guy’s decision. “I’m not the best player.” Zayn starts as he looks at Jon. “Which begs the question: why’d I get the finale?” He asks Jonathan. 

“You want me to give it to someone else?” Jon asks. 

Zayn shakes his head. “No, but Kate’s obviously a better player than me.”

“Kate’s terrific but that comes from hours of practice. She has diligence, you have a gift. Sucks for her. Cool for you.” Jonathan explains. 

“It’s that simple?” Zayn asks as he raises his eyebrows. 

Jonathan shrugs and nods. “Such is life.”

Zayn hums in agreement. “Okay, so, what are we gonna tackle next? Because I’m not loving Schubert right now.” He says, changing the topic already. 

Jonathan smiles and shakes his head. “That won’t be up to me.” 

“You’re gonna let me pick out my own music? Sweet. Bring on the jazz.” 

“Actually, I wasn’t gonna tell you this until tomorrow but this is our last lesson.” Jonathan says and Zayn knows he looks shocked because Jonathan seems to soften his tone. “I got another job, Zayn.” 

“I didn’t even know you were looking.” Zayn trails off. He likes Jonathan as his teacher. The older guy is a terrific piano player and Zayn loves to learn from him. “When? Where?” Zayn asks. 

“A conservatory in London I applied two years ago is finally interested so I’m packing up and flying out of here.” 

“Oh.” Zayn responses. “It happened kind of fast.” 

Jonathan smiles slightly. “Yeah, I met the people when I was in London few months ago. It’s just something I’ve been working on. Anyway..”

“I guess Mullingar can’t really compete with London, right?” 

“Well, Madonna lives there for a reason.” Jonathan deadpans and Zayn snorts as he chuckles. 

“Well, it’s gonna suck losing one of the three people in this town I can carry on a conversation with.” Zayn admits. 

Jonathan shakes his head. “That’s why God invented e-mail.” He jokes and Zayn laughs. The older guy looks at him and points to the piano in front of them. “Come on. Try that last chord progression one more time and then you’re free.” 

 

**

 

“I know the place where we can get the best view.” Maggie says as she puts her bag into the trunk. “It’s just past Miller’s Field. We should have the whole place to ourselves. Grab that tent, would you?” She says to her grandson and Niall grunts as he pulls the heavy tent by himself. 

“So what exactly is the plan for tonight?” 

“Recon. The first thing we gotta do is get better look at the light so I packed my telescope. Plus, I thought we’d take some pictures.” 

Niall nods. “Oh that’s a good idea. So how about you go on, do the whole telescope thing by yourself and I will meet you later to take all the pictures?” He suggests as he looks at his grandmother. “I’m better with a camera anyways.” 

Maggie stares at her grandson. “What do you mean ’meet you later’? Where are you gonna be?” 

“Well, I thought I’d go help Liam on this test he’s got on Monday. I figured that you would understand because, we both know that me being grounded is another one of my dad’s lame power moves, right?” 

Maggie shakes her head. “Niall, I suddenly feel like I’m being hornswoggled and I don’t like it one bit.” She says bluntly. 

Niall shakes his head frantically. “No, that’s not how it is at all Grandma.” 

Maggie snorts. “You thought you could manipulate me into letting you see Liam because you know your dad won’t let you. This whole X-Files reunion tour was just so you could use me.” 

“I didn’t use you, grandma! I need you.” Niall says firmly. “It’s different.” 

“Well, sell that to someone who buys malarkey.” Maggie says as she closes the trunk a little too loud for anyone’s liking. “Get in the truck.” She says sternly. 

‘You’re seriously not gonna let me go?” 

“Seriously.” 

“Well, can I at least call him and tell him I’m not gonna make it?” 

“No.” 

Niall rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Why not?” He huffs. “I thought you understood me.” 

“I thought I did too.” Maggie replies shortly. 

“Fine. Then just take me home because..” 

“Forget it!” Maggie cuts her grandson off. This is the time where she is grateful that she was a soldier before. At least she can be strict and fearful. “We are going camping, we are gonna figure out what those lights are about and we’re gonna do it together whether you like it or not.” 

“But Grandma…” Niall whines. 

“Truck!” Maggie says and her tone shows that she is having none of it and Niall apparently knows it too. 

 

**

 

“Hey, you’re looking sharp.” Yasir says as soon as he spots his son at the living room. “Is that Jon’s present?” He asks as he points at the thing in Zayn’s hand. 

Zayn nods. “Yeah, I’ll give it to him after the recital.” 

Yasir smiles and nods. “What did you get him?” 

“This old subway map of London.” 

“Well that’s very thoughtful. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. So, you nervous?” 

“Well I had a couple drops of whiskeys to take the edge off. I should be fine.” Zayn jokes and Yasir just snorts. 

“Good. I figured you might be nervous. Oh, and I dropped those cups off earlier today at the concert hall.” 

“Well, you’ve done a fine job with the cups.” Zayn deadpans. “Mom would be proud.” He continues as his father laughs. “So, how many people RSVP’d for this thing?” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “Is this a trick question? Because you asked me to dis-invite everyone yesterday so I did.” 

“Oh, you did?” 

Yasir nods, clueless. “Yeah. I did what you told me to.”

“So, nobody else is coming?” 

“You didn’t want anyone to come. That’s what you’ve told me. I have a witness.” Yasir says as he turns to look at Harry who is apparently choosing to remains silent during the whole exchange. 

“Don’t look at me. I’m Switzerland.” Harry says. 

“Nah, I mean, it’s no big deal.” Zayn says as he waves his father off. 

“No, wait a minute. Maybe we can..” 

“It’s fine. Forget it. Really.” 

Yasir stares at his son. “Are you sure? There’s still time.” He says at the same time as the sounds of the car honking at the front yard. 

Zayn shakes his head as he stands up. “It’s Jon. I’ll see you guys there. I’m gonna get a ride with him, all right?” He says before he takes off. 

Yasir watches as Zayn walks out the door before he stands up abruptly. “Come on, Hazza. Let’s go.” 

Harry looks at his father blankly. “But the recital’s not for another hour. We got plenty of time.” 

Yasir shakes his head. “No, we don’t. We gotta find an audience.” 

 

**

 

“Well, so much for sleeping tonight.” Maggie comments as she looks at her grandson. They both heard some weird stories from other people there and let’s just say, it freaks them out a bit. 

Niall nods and sips on his hot cocoa. Then he turns to look at his grandmother. “Some of them were right though. Whatever those lights are, they brought all these people together tonight. It’s pretty impressive.” He concludes and Maggie smiles at that words. 

“Niall Horan!” Niall turns his head in confusion at the source of the voice. “Did someone just call my name?” He asks as Maggie looks at him blankly as well. 

“Maggie Horan!” This time, it is Maggie’s turns to look at Niall. “We’re being paged in the forest.” She deadpans. 

“Dr. Malik?” Niall asks as soon as Yasir comes into their sight, panting likes he just ran a thousand miles to get to them. 

“I’m sorry to crash your mission Maggie but I need to talk to Niall for a second.” Yasir apologizes sincerely. 

Niall feels his stomach drops in worried. “Is everything okay?” 

“Zayn’s piano recital is tonight and I’d like you to come. I know he’d really like you to be there.” 

Niall raises his eyebrows in confusion. “Well actually he made it very clear that he didn’t want me there at all.” He says. Well, he clearly remembers the conversation that he had with Zayn earlier at the school’s hallway. 

Yasir shakes his head. “I learned a very valuable lesson this week which I am now going to impart to you: whatever he says about his piano recital, he means the exact opposite.”

Niall mouths an ‘o’ shape and nods understandingly. “Well, I’d love to but I promised my grandma that I’d stay here tonight. It’s kind of important.” Niall says truthfully. Frankly he feels a little bit guilty for throwing a stupid tantrum with his grandmother earlier. 

“It’s okay. Go on ahead.” Maggie pipes in and Niall turns to look at his grandmother. 

“Well, I don’t want to abandon you.” 

“I can defend the universe from an alien invasion all by myself.” Maggie jokes. 

Niall chuckles and shakes his head. Now he knows where his father gets some dumb jokes. “Okay, well I’ll come back right after the recital. I promise.” He says before he gives his grandmother a hug. “Just don’t figure anything out without me.” Niall warns when he pulls away. 

Maggie smiles. “I promise.” 

 

**

 

“Have you seen Jon?” Zayn asks on one of the players. Hank? Chris? Well, he’s bad at remembering names apparently. 

“He’s downstairs. Making a phone call.” The kid replies and Zayn mumbles his thanks before he makes his way to the downstairs. 

“Jon?” Zayn tries to call out as he glances at the doors at the walkway. There’s too many doors to be checked and he sighs. And just his luck, the first door that he opens, his eyes go wide at the sight. Kate is kissing Jonathan and Zayn doesn’t even wait for any words before he slams the door close and throws his present away into the bin. 

 

**

 

Niall watches in fascination and admiration as Zayn is playing the piano on the stage. There’s something about the way his fingers move around the instrument that makes Niall’s breath hitch. It’s so melodic and beautiful. And Zayn seems to be so into it. And when Zayn finishes, Niall is among the first one who stands up and whoops loudly. He is just so proud of Zayn. And when Zayn spots him and smiles, Niall feels like he is on the cloud nine. And despite what happened between them, Niall grins widely at Zayn and claps as louder as he can. 

 

** 

 

“Nice job Zayn.” Kate says as soon as Zayn enters the backstage. 

“Yeah right.” Zayn replies sarcastically. 

“I mean it. You really nailed the finale.” Kate says but Zayn just ignores her as he walks away. Kate doesn’t seem that she wants to let go of it and grabs Zayn’s arm. “What’s your problem? I’m saying I thought you did great.” 

Zayn stops walking abruptly and turns to face the girl. “Look, I get it, all right? I’m not an idiot.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“We both know the only reason that Jon gave me that slot because he didn’t want to blow his cover by giving it to you.” Zayn spits. He feels upset because he feels like he is betrayed by his friend. He considers Jon as one of his best friends that he can talk to but apparently Jon doesn’t seem to think so. 

Kate shakes her head. “You were awesome. You earned the finale.” 

“I don’t need a pep talk, alright. At least, not from you.” 

“What? I can’t even give you a compliment?”

Zayn snorts and huffs. “Yesterday you wouldn’t say two words to me. Now you wanna be my best friend? I mean, it’s so obvious what you’re doing.” 

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes.” Zayn replies curtly. “And don’t worry I’m not gonna blow your cover. I’m sure people will figure out how naïve you are without me. I won’t say a word.” 

Kate laughs humorlessly. “Oh you think I’m naïve?” 

“If you can’t figure out why 28-year-old guys date high school girls I can’t help you.” 

Kate shakes her head firmly. “Jon and I are in love.”

“Is that why he’s dumping you for some lame-ass job in London?” 

Kate huffs. “You really don’t get it, do you? Jon’s not dumping me. He’s leaving town because my dad found out about us.”

“What..?” Zayn trails off. Jon was lying to him? Now Zayn really feels like he’s been betrayed. 

“Yeah. But hey, I guess you believe everything that Jon has ever told you. Who’s the naïve one now?” 

 

**

 

Niall rubs his eyes sleepily and blinks as he looks at his grandmother outside the tent. “Why does it smell like beans out here?” 

Maggie chuckles as she points out at the pan on the fire. “I forgot the eggs so we’re having huevos rancheros minus the huevos for the breakfast.”

Niall nods as he starts to walk towards his grandmother and both of them take a seat on the mat. Maggie pats her shoulder as he looks at Niall and despite rolling his eyes, Niall actually loves it when he can lay his head on his grandma’s shoulder like he used to do when he was a kid. The way his grandma’s hand wrap protectively around him makes Niall feels like a little kid again. Or maybe he just missed being cuddled by his grandmother. 

“How was the recital? I think I fell asleep before you got back.” Maggie asks as she tilts her head to the left to look at her grandson. 

Niall smiles widely. “It was awesome. I really think Zayn’s gonna be a famous piano player one day. I mean even bigger than Tori Amos.” 

Maggie nods and smiles. “I’m glad you had a good time.” 

“Yeah. And that’s kind of what I don’t get.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, you were really mad at me when I wanted to go to see Liam but you had no problem with me going to see Zayn’s piano recital.” Niall says and pauses. “It that your way of telling me that I chose the wrong bachelor, Grandma?” 

Maggie laughs and wraps her arm tighter around her grandson. “No. I’m not trying to choose your boyfriend, Nialler. I’m just trying to keep you from losing too much of yourself while you figure it all out. You and your dad are a lot alike.” She says and shushes Niall when the boy wants to comment on that. “You’ve both got tunnel vision like I’ve never seen. You focus so intently on one thing that you forget everything else around you and right now, your tunnel leads to Liam and only to Liam.” 

“Yeah but I..” 

“Love him. I know. And I understand. But there’s a very fine line between devotion and obsession. Besides, Liam’s not the only one who needs you. Your dad does, I do and last night, more than anyone, Zayn did. And you were there for him. And that’s the kind of person you’ve always been and I just didn’t want you to forget it.” 

They both fall into silence after that as Niall lets his grandmother’s words flowing inside his brain. He knows that he makes a lot of people mad at him but he just..yeah, maybe he is wrong. He knows his grandmother is right. “So basically you’re saying that there’s more to life than boys?” Niall says in a teasing manner. 

“Well, if you want to be succinct about it, sure.” Maggie replies and they both chuckle. Niall shifts slightly as he wraps his arms around his grandmother and buries his head on her shoulder. “Thank you so much, grandma.” 

 

** 

 

“You did a nice job last night.” Jonathan says as soon as Zayn enters the music room. 

“That’s all you got to say?” 

“What more do you want?” 

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Some honesty would be great.” 

“I am being honest.” 

“No you’re not. You lied. You lied to me. You lied to Kate. All you had to do was tell me the truth.” 

“And why should I have?” 

“Because I deserve it.” 

Jonathan shakes his head. “No, you don’t. Not where Kate and I are concerned. When it came to the music, which was really important, I was honest with you.” 

Zayn scoffs. “Forget the music. This has nothing to do with that. I trusted you. I believed what you told me for the last few months. Not just about the piano, but about life, about people, everything. I took your advice to heart because I thought we were friends.” 

“I am your friend.” 

“No, you’re not.” Zayn says as he shakes his head. “I’m not going to be friends with somebody like you.”

Jonathan sighs as he looks at Zayn. “You know what made you cool to hang out with? You didn’t act your age.”

Zayn ignores the comment. “How do you live with yourself?” 

“Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m not. I’m worried about Kate. She has no idea what kind of person you are.”

“And you do?” Jonathan asks. 

Zayn nods. “You’re a liar.” 

“Don’t be so quick to judge me. In 10 years, you’ll do things you never would have thought possible. Call me when you get there. We’ll compare notes.” 

Zayn clenches his fist and huffs angrily. “Screw you.” He spits before he starts to turn and walk away. 

“You’re a better pianist now than you were few months ago, Zayn. My job was to bring out your abilities. That’s what I was hired to do.” 

Zayn stops walking and turns to face Jonathan again. “Is that what you were hired to do for Kate? Forget it, you’re a liar.” Zayn says and this time, he walks out of the door without looking back again. 

 

**

 

“So, Kate’s father knows everything?” Yasir asks as he looks at his son as thay are sitting in front of television. 

Zayn shrugs. “Well, supposedly. Whether that’s true or not I have no idea but..”

“Well I’m sorry you got caught up in the middle of all this. I feel somehow responsible seeing as I chose Jon for you.”

“Well did it say ‘lying scum’ on his resume?” Zayn deadpans and Yasir chuckles. “Well I guess I can’t blame you for this one.” He continues. 

“Well, you choose the next one. We’ll do a heavy screening process.” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I don’t think I want another piano teacher.” 

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “Why not? Just because Jon’s a jerk doesn’t mean you have to..”

“Nah, it’s more than that. I don’t know if it’s worth it.” Zayn admits. 

“What are you talking about?” Yasir asks, this time he is facing his son fully as Zayn looks down and avoiding his gaze. 

“What’s the point of becoming great at something if you have to compromise everything you believe to get there?”

“Who says you have to compromise?” 

“Jon..” Zayn mumbles quietly but Yasir hears it anyway. 

“Forget Jon. He doesn’t know you.” Yasir says firmly. “He doesn’t know what you’re capable of. You’re better than him. You’re a better pianist and you’re a better human being.” 

Zayn flusters slightly at his father’s word and he glances at his father. “Am I better than you? You compromised. Think about it. Would you have saved as many lives if you were home for dinner every night?” 

“Probably not.” Yasir replies truthfully. 

“And do you regret it now, not being home?” 

Yasir finally understands what Zayn is trying to implement at the moment. He shifts as he sits closer to his son and put his hand on Zayn’s shoulder firmly. “You won’t make the same mistakes like I did.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“Yes, I do.” Yasir says confidently. “You’re 15 years old, Zayn and you’re already asking yourself these questions. It took me 20 years of neurosurgery, the death of your mother and moving us to the middle of nowhere before I even knew what the questions were.” 

Zayn swallows thickly and finally nods, accepting his father’s words. “Now that you know what the questions are, can we please move back to London?” He jokes. 

Yasir laughs and shakes his head. “Nice try.” He says and they both laugh. “So, I saw how Niall looked at you and the way you looked at him during the recital….” Yasir starts to tease and Zayn rolls his eyes but deep down, he feels giddy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got comments about Larry scene and all and I really like to explore their characters but right now, I think I want to focus on the Ziall and Niam part first because after I re-watched the whole series, I think it's important to tie the loose ends between these three characters before I start to write about Larry. I'm so sorry Larry shipper. I feel bad about it. :( 
> 
> And to those who watched the series and know exactly what would happen, I apologize too if I'm not really changing the major plot. I don't have enough time to tweak the major plot but maybe as the time goes on, I'll try to change it slightly. 
> 
>  
> 
> Credit to: Everwood


	21. A friend in need, is a friend indeed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the late update. I'm a horrible person. :( I just finished my work dateline this week and finally manage to get some free time to write this chapter. Though this is quite short. Sorry! But I promise that I'll post the next chapter by this weekend! 
> 
> Total credit to: Everwood

Zayn raises his eyebrows as he soon as he spots on Louis, standing near his bike. “Are you talking to yourself?” He asks when he sees Louis mumbling something to a thin air and nobody is near him. 

Louis snaps his head to look at Zayn. “Zayn! Hey!” Louis greets over-enthusiastically. “You know the spring formal is coming up?” He asks straight to the point. 

Zayn nods. “It’s kind of hard to miss.” He replies truthfully. The poster is all over the school and Zayn is not blind to see all of it. 

“Do you wanna go?” Louis blurts out and Zayn almost chokes on his breathe. 

“With you?” He asks. 

Louis shakes his head repeatedly, looking at Zayn like Zayn is crazy. “No, dude. I’m going with Kevin. But he’s got this cousin, Andy. His dad said that he can’t go unless Andy goes. The problem is Andy doesn’t have a date.” Louis explains. 

Zayn rolls his eyes, finally understand on what Louis wants him to do. “What’s this Andy like?” 

“He’s cute.” Louis replies unconvincingly. 

Zayn sighs. “You’ve never met him.” 

“He’s related to Kevin. He’s gotta be hot, right?” Louis says as his defense. 

“You’re related to Niall. You’re not hot.” Zayn deadpans and Louis rolls his eyes. “Besides, if he’s so cute, why doesn’t he have a date?” Zayn continues. 

Louis shrugs. “I don’t know. Is this like a test or something?” 

Zayn chuckles and shakes his head. Louis can be so endearingly clueless sometimes, not that Zayn will tell that to Louis out loud. “Why me?”

Louis looks at Zayn and sighs before he speaks up. “Well, ever since that whole Liam thing, I’m like a leopard with those guys.” 

“’Leper’, Louis.” Zayn corrects the other boy's word. 

“Whatever. Look, you owe it to me, okay?” Louis tries to persuade. “I took a punch for you.” He continues. 

Zayn sighs. He admits what Louis says is true. He does owe Louis about the night that Liam went ballistic on him. “All right, but if I do this, this is it, right?” Zayn says, hoping that Louis understands that this is as to pay Louis's debt for taking a punch for him.

Louis nods eagerly. “Even-steven.” 

 

**

 

Niall opens his front door and smiles as he looks at the other boy. “Zayn.” He greets excitedly.

“Is Louis here?” Zayn asks, without even greeting at Niall in return. 

Niall nods. “Yeah, hold on a second.” He says before he turns his head slightly. “Lou! Zayn’s here!” He yells, hoping that his brother upstairs would hear him. He then turns to look at Zayn again. “He should be down in a second.” 

“Okay.” Zayn replies shortly. 

Niall, oblivious to Zayn’s dark mood starts to open the door and gestures for Zayn to come in. “Come in.” He invites and as soon as Zayn steps into the house, Niall starts to talk again. “So, you boys are going shopping?” 

“Yeah, something like that.” Zayn mumbles in reply. 

Niall doesn’t let the smile falters from his face for Zayn's lack of response because knowing Zayn, he knows how moody the other guy can get sometimes. “Your piano recital was great.” Niall says. “I know you didn’t want me to go but your dad said that..”

“You know, you don’t have to wait.” Zayn cuts Niall’s off. 

This time, Niall’s smile is really gone from his face. “Are you trying to get rid of me?” 

Zayn nods. “Yes.” He replies bluntly. 

Niall sighs. “You know, Zayn. I know that a lot of this is my fault and things with Liam are weird. But given all the stuff that we’ve been through together, I thought things would be better than this.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Zayn says and shrugs. “But they’re not, so..” 

“Check it out, dude! One-handed for easy access.” Louis exclaims excitedly as he skipping down the stairs, stopping Zayn and Niall’s conversation altogether. “My suit pants got Velcro in them.” 

Niall watches as Zayn turns to look at Louis. Feeling ignored and annoyed, Niall takes off and heading for his room. Screw this, he thinks to himself. 

 

**

 

“I think my cousin really likes you.” Kevin says, as Zayn rolling his eyes again at the guy. Apparently, Kevin’s cousin did show up, however he is now busy kissing a boy on the dance floor and Zayn is left alone at the table, dateless during the dance. 

“What makes you think that?” Zayn replies sarcastically. 

“Ah, he likes you all right. As a coat rack.” Louis deadpans as he points out at Andy’s coat in Zayn’s hand. 

“Well, you know Andy has always been like super….friendly.” Kevin says hesitantly and Zayn really feels bad for the guy who is trying to defend his cousin’s action. He shakes his head and starts to stand up. “I need a drink.” He says before he takes off from the table. 

 

**

 

“Hey Zayn.” Zayn turns to look at the boy besides him. He curses himself for getting lost in those blue eyes but Niall really looks so fit tonight. He rarely gets to see Niall in a suit but tonight he gets to see that and he curses himself again for thinking that Niall looks so hot. 

“Hey. Sorry.” Zayn says as he passes the glass to Niall. 

Niall smiles at Zayn. “Thanks. You look nice.” He says as he looks at Zayn who is apparently looks so handsome with his half-done-button suit and that black quiff and yes, Niall is cursing himself for thinking about that.

“Thank you. So do you.” Zayn says truthfully. 

“Don’t I look nice?” Liam’s voice suddenly pipes in and both of them turn to look at Liam. 

“You look ravishing.” Zayn deadpans. 

“You know, your date’s making out with somebody else.” Liam starts as he points out at the centro of the dance floor. 

Niall rolls his eyes. “Liam, don’t be a jerk.” He warns. 

“Well, it’s been a pleasure. Love to stick around for a punch in the jaw but I’ve got a date to be blown off by.” Zayn says before he takes off from the drink’s table. 

Niall sighs as he watches Zayn leaves and turns to look at Liam but his boyfriend just looks at him and smiles like he wasn’t just said a bad thing to Zayn before. “Let’s dance.” Liam says as he starts to pull Niall’s hand into him and Niall just follow the lead. 

 

**

 

“Isn’t that pathetic?” Niall turns his head to look at Sean as his friend starts to speak up to him. “Andy has been going out with Eric forever, like six months. But since Eric got caught smoking pot in the girls’ bathroom at St. Sebastian’s, Andy’s parents won’t let him see Eric anymore. So, he totally went with Zayn as a Trojan horse. I had no idea he was that smart.” 

Niall rolls his eyes at Sean’s words. Sometimes he doesn’t understand why he is still being friend with people like this. “I’m gonna go talk to him.” Niall says as he pulls away from Liam and stopping their dancing. 

“Why?” Liam asks as he stares at Niall. 

“Because he’s all alone and the whole Andy thing sucks.” Niall explains.

“What, you gonna rescue him every time?” Liam says as he starts to get annoyed. 

“Every time what? He’s my friend.” Niall says. It’s true. Zayn has been a friend when Niall needed him so this time Niall likes to return the favor too. 

“Yeah, I’m your boyfriend.” Liam deadpans. 

Niall rolls his eyes. “Why are you being like this?” 

“Because I don’t want you sitting with some other guy whether it is out of pity or not!” 

“If you were there sitting all alone and everyone was laughing at you..”

“Yeah, I’d leave!” Liam says as he starts to raise his voice. “The guy’s a glutton for punishment.” 

Niall shakes his head. “Whatever. I’m going over there.” 

“Don’t.” Liam warns as he grabs Niall’s arm to stop him.

Niall shrugs Liam’s grip of his arm and glares at his boyfriend. “Or what?”

“Or don’t come back.” 

Niall feels his breath leaves his lung the moment Liam had said that. He couldn’t believe how Liam would act like this. “Are you serious?” He says as he looks at Liam straight into his eyes. 

Liam stares back. “If you go over there, Niall. Don’t come back.” Liam says in finality. 

Niall shakes his head disappointingly. “I can’t believe you.” He says. “I’ll get another ride home.” He continues before he leaves Liam alone. 

 

**

 

“Is this seat taken?” Niall asks as he reaches Zayn’s table. Zayn looks up from the staring contest with his glass and looks at the Niall. 

“I’m afraid you can’t sit here. This is a very exclusive outcast table. You have to have a special pass.” Zayn jokes. 

Niall smiles half-heartedly. “I think I have one.” 

“Well, there have been a lot of fakes going around. Who gave you yours?” 

“Liam Payne.” Niall replies as he starts to sit on the chair. 

Zayn doesn’t know how to respond to that so he just nods. “Well, you’re probably okay then.” He says. He watches as Niall’s sigh heavily and truthfully, Zayn doesn’t like this face of Niall. “What are you doing?” Zayn asks, referring to Niall's action on sitting at the table. 

“Proving a point, I guess.” Niall says and shrugs. 

“What kind of point?” 

“Something about…” Niall mumbles and shakes his head afterwards. “I have no idea.” 

“Well, since it appears that the three people that weren’t already laughing at me have now joined the mocking hordes, do you think we could maybe prove this point on the dance floor instead?” Zayn says and he doesn’t know where he gets the courage but suddenly he really wants to dance with Niall. 

Niall smiles slightly at that and let Zayn pulls him to stand up and with their tangled hands, they make their way to the dance floor. 

 

**

 

“So.” Liam starts as soon as he spots Niall at the school’s field, after his soccer practice. 

“So.” Niall replies back. 

“Are you going to apologize?” Liam asks. 

Niall looks at Liam. “For what?” 

Liam huffs in annoyance. “You know what I’m talking about.” 

Niall sighs as he shakes his head before he looks at Liam properly. “You know what, I’ve chosen you over Zayn about a thousand times, Liam. I’ve chosen you over everyone else. Already there, all of these people in my life who I care about, who I’ve just treated badly or stepped all over because all I cared about was you.” Niall says and pauses. “They stuck by me. Zayn stuck by me. He sent me back to you when I was discouraged about us, about you never remembering me, or caring. He told me to keep going. You’re right Liam. I was wrong to be mad at you. It’s me I should be mad at. For not being a better friend to Zayn because he hasn’t just been a good friend to me, he’s been a good friend to us.” Niall finishes and turns to leave before Liam gets a chance to reply. 

 

**

 

“Hey Mom, when’s dinner?” Liam shouts from the kitchen as he opens his refrigerator. He takes out the glass and suddenly, he doesn’t know what the hell just happened but all he knows that he had lost his balance and his body starts to shake on the floor.

Mrs. Payne calls out for his son after she doesn’t hear anything else and steps into the kitchen. “Liam? Liam! Oh my God!” She screams in horror as she sees her son on the floor, his body starts to have a spasm and she goes into panic. “Somebody, help!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually transferring my stories from here to my tumblr.
> 
> http://niallhoranisasecretfurby.tumblr.com/


	22. I'm always here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the second last chapter (next one will be the final chapter) for the first part of Small Town series. Cause yeah, it'll be too long if I fit all the chapters in one story so I'm going to break it according to the season of Everwood as well. :) It means that it'll be a four parts of this Small Town series. 
> 
> credit: Everwood (all the medical jargon are also from the show and not mine.)

“The thrombus is in the basilar artery feeding the cerebellum.” 

“That’s what caused the seizure?” 

Yasir sighs as he glances at Mr. Payne before he starts to reply. “Effectively, yes. And the other symptoms too. The nausea, the mood swings. Most likely, the seizure was caused when a smaller piece broke away from this mass and obstructed the blood flow somewhere else.”

“So there’s two of these clots now?” 

“Well, not necessarily. The smaller fragment may have broken up and dissolved into the bloodstream. That’s what we’d hope for anyway, in a case like this. That would explain why there’s only been one seizure so far.” Yasir explains. “My concern now is that the original thrombus,” he says as he points out at the monitor screen which shows the CT scan of Liam’s brain. “..or another larger fragment from it, will migrate and possible create a greater occlusion elsewhere. That’s what we need to try and stop.” 

Mr. Payne shakes his head. “Why didn’t they find this sooner? I mean, there’s so many tests.” 

“Well, for the same reason there weren’t any seizures before. The mass has to reach a certain minimal size before it’ll show up as an anomaly. Unfortunately, that’s also when it can do the most damage.” 

Mr. Payne rubs his hands over his face tiredly and Yasir feels pity for the man. “Is it operable?” Mr. Payne asks.

“Yes.” Yasir replies. “We’d use catheters to reach the vessel, and we’d use a laser to break the clot apart. Ideally, the resulting particles would be so small they’ll be harmless. But you should be aware that given the areas of the brain we’ll be dealing with, if the laser damaged the arterial wall or the catheter itself perforated the artery, we wouldn’t be able to stop the bleeding.” 

“I haven’t thanked you for coming back on as Liam’s doctor.” Mr. Payne says as he looks at Yasir. 

Yasir nods and smiles slightly. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m glad to help.” 

“Before, when we told you, that..well, we just…we really thought the worst was over.” 

Yasir nods again as he looks at Mr. Payne. “You just did what you thought was best.” He says understandingly. “Why don’t we focus now on trying to help Liam? These next two weeks are critical. Talk to him. Talk to your wife. And let me know what you decide.”

 

**

 

The next day, all of the Paynes, except for Jamie are sitting down in Yasir’s office, discussing their option for Liam’s condition. “I know it’s difficult facing the prospect of another surgery.” Yasir says. “Unfortunately, the alternative isn’t very promising.” 

“But the new surgery could be as risky as letting the thrombus break up naturally.” Mr. Payne says. “Maybe his body will take care of this clot like the smaller one.” Mrs. Payne pipes in. 

Yasir shakes his head. “Given the size of the clot, that’s not a real possibility. A thrombus of this type is like a ticking bomb inside of Liam’s head. We’re not just talking about my instincts here. We have identified the problem. You need to trust me or someone to go in there and fix it.” Yasir pauses before he continues. “And soon.” 

“No, thanks, Dr. Malik.” Liam suddenly says as he looks at the doctor. 

Yasir looks at the teenager in front of him. “Listen, Liam..”

“No, not again. I’m the one who’s been through it all.” Liam says firmly. He doesn’t want someone to go operate his brain again. He had barely survived the first one, what is the chance of him getting better after the second one? “I’m the one who has to go through post-op and rehab. I just don’t have it in me to do it again.” 

Yasir leans to the front, staring straight into Liam’s eyes. “Liam, I don’t think you understand the likely prognosis here. You realize you could die?” 

Liam shrugs. “Either way, thought right? I mean, the operation might not even work.” 

“Well, that’s true.” 

“I’ll take my chances.” Liam says, still firmly defensing his decision not to operate. He starts to stand up from his sit and looks at his parents. “I’m gonna wait in the car.” He announces before he flees from Yasir’s office.

Once Liam leaves the room, Yasir looks back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Payne. “He’s scared. That’s understandable. As his parents, you’ll have to explain it to him.” 

“Explain what?” Mr. Payne asks. “We can’t do a better job of explaining this than you did.” He admits before he sighs. “It’s in God’s hands now.”

 

**

 

Liam is sitting alone on his bed, wallowing in self pity when suddenly he hears someone knocking on his opened bedroom’s door and he looks up to see Niall, leaning on the doorframe and smiling at him. “What are you doing here?” Liam asks moodily. He doesn’t want to see anyone at the moment. 

“Your dad said it was okay.” Niall says before he waves the paper bag in his hand. “Double chocolate?” He asks, referring to Liam’s favorite comfort food. Niall takes Liam’s silence as a cue to walk into the room so that’s what he does, and he takes a seat on the edge of Liam’s bed. 

“I’m really tired.” Liam says as he looks at Niall. 

Niall nods. “I know. I just wanted to see how you were feeling.” 

“How do you think I’m feeling?” Liam deadpans. 

Niall has a tendency to blush sheepishly at that. “Right. Dumb question.” He says. “Is there anything I can do?” 

Liam shakes his head. “Nope, nothing. I think you should leave.” 

“I guess we’re still fighting, then.” Niall says. 

Liam rolls his eyes and looks at Niall. “Is there any reasons why we woudn’t be? You haven’t apologized or anything.” 

Niall raises his hands in surrender and nods. “Okay, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s too late.” 

“Liam..”

“Why are you here, Niall?” Liam asks, cutting Niall’s off. “Why do you keep coming back when it’s obvious that we’re over?” 

Niall shakes his head. “Because we’re not over. Don’t you see all these stupid fights don’t even count? You were sick. You didn’t even know what you were doing.” 

“Of course I did.” Liam replies, raising his voice slightly as he feels upset. “You think I got mad about you and Zayn because my brain was tweaked?” 

“Well..”

“No!” Liam says. “And just so there’s no misunderstanding, I’m feeling really clear right now. And as far as I’m concerned, what you did still sucked.” Liam points out harshly. 

Niall stares at Liam and shakes his head frantically. “Zayn and I are just friends. I felt sorry for him.”

“Why do you keep talking to me about Zayn? I had a seizure and you’re up here talking to me about some other guy? Do you see how wrong that is?”

Niall takes a deep breath to calm himself. He knows Liam does this because he is upset about Zayn and Niall knows he is wrong so he just nods. “Okay, Liam. I’m sorry.” Niall apologizes sincerely. 

Liam huffs and refuses to look at Niall anymore. “Would you please just leave?” He says and pauses. “And don’t come back.” He continues. “I don’t want to see you anymore. We’re done.”

 

**

 

“Please. Before I have to self-medicate.” Bobby scolds as he swats away Niall’s hand from the car’s radio button. His youngest son has been changing the channel for every one second and it makes Bobby feels irritated because of the noise. 

Niall sighs and leans his head on the seat, staring at the road in front of him. “So have you spoken to Dr. Malik lately? About Liam or anything?” He asks quietly. 

Bobby glances between the road and his son before he responds to the question. “Is this a trick? As I recall, speaking to Dr. Malik is what turned you into such ‘delightful’ company these last few weeks. Or did you forget that’s why you stopped talking to me?” Bobby watches as Niall just keeps being silent and his youngest son just replies with a quiet, “never mind.” 

Niall feels the car stops and he breaks out from his stupor and looks at his father. “What are you doing?”

“I just need to grab some things from the grocery.” 

Niall nods. “Oh, get me a coke and some licorice. Any kind.” 

“Well, if you want something, come in and get it yourself.” Bobby says before he closes the door and Niall rolls his eyes. Slowly, he gets out of the car and follows his father into the grocery store. 

“I could talk to Dr. Malik if you’d like.” Bobby says to Niall as they both are walking between the aisles at the store. “I wouldn’t enjoy it, mind you, but I could do that for you, if you’d like.” 

Niall shakes his head and just gives his father a slight smile, so unlike himself and he knows his father notices his mood too. “That’s okay. Forget it.” He says and shrugs. “I’m just curious what happens next, that’s all.” 

“I’m sure they’ll do whatever is necessary. Did Liam say something?” 

Niall shrugs. “Not really. He doesn’t wanna talk to me right now, I guess.” 

“Because of..?” Bobby asks, trying to casually prompt the answer from Niall.

“Because of like, a million reasons, which makes everything seems so pointless.” Niall says bitterly. 

“How do you mean?” 

“What was the point of hiding all that stuff before? He hates me now, anyways.” Niall blurts out frustratingly. 

Bobby glances at his son as he looks at the frown across Niall’s face. Now he knows why Niall’s mood is so gloomy for the past two days. “Nialler, I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.” Bobby reassures as he steps in front of his son, making sure that Niall will look at him. “He doesn’t hate you, trust me.” 

Niall’s face starts to crumble slightly as he looks at his father’s eyes. “I wish I would have told someone when I knew he was getting sick. I never should have pretended that I didn’t see it. Why I did that..” He says brokenly. 

“Well, you wanted him to trust you.” Bobby says understandingly. “All things considered, trust is very important in a relationship.” He continues. “Sometimes, Niall, all things aren’t equal.”

“Maybe if I had said something sooner, they could’ve done something about it. What if it’s too late?” Niall says, his voice grows quiet as he keeps replaying the same question inside his head over and over again for the past couple of days. 

“They’ll do everything they can. He’s in good hands.” 

“But it’s all my fault now. If I hadn’t danced with Zayn..” 

“Nialler, nialler. Hey, listen to me.” Bobby grabs his son’s shoulder to make sure that Niall is paying full attention to him. “Whatever is going on with Liam’s medical condition had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with any quarrel or any jealous tiff that you two might’ve had at a dance. It’s just doesn’t work that way.” He knows Niall is smart and for sure his son knows that the reason for Liam’s condition is not his fault. But Bobby also knows that Niall is just a young boy who sometimes feels scared. “You have done more for Liam Payne than anyone could ever expect. More than anyone has ever done for just about anybody.” Bobby continues before he pulls Niall into his arms. 

Niall clutches on his father’s shirt as he cries quietly after his father’s speech. He doesn’t care if they are standing at the middle of the grocery store making a scene. He just know that his father has lessened the heavy feelings that have been lingered inside his heart for these past few days and he is so grateful for that. 

 

**

 

Niall doesn’t think that he would find the person who is now standing nervously in front of him when he opened the front door earlier. That’s why he keeps silence as Liam looks at him nervously. 

“Hi. Can I talk to you for a second?” Liam asks and Niall just nods, leading Liam into the house. 

“I thought you never wanted to see me again.” Niall points out. 

Liam shakes his head. “No. It was kind of the other way around.” He starts to explain. “I kind of didn’t want you to see me anymore. Not like this, anyways.”

Niall crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at Liam confusingly. “I don’t understand.”

Liam takes a deep breath before he starts to speak again. “Look, I said all of those things because I felt like I had to. Like I had to be mean to make you go away. And then I decided that I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t have you thinking that I hated you when I don’t.”

Niall stares at Liam, searching for Liam’s eyes to see if this is some kind of sick joke that Liam is playing but Liam’s eyes clearly show that he is sincere about his words. “So why’d you tell me to go away?” 

“I can’t ask you to stay with me, Niall.” Liam says as he smiles sadly at Niall. “Not again. You’ve been through this before and I know how much it hurt you.” He continues. They both start to sit on the stairs as Liam looks at Niall again. “I don’t even know what’s gonna happen now. I’m not getting better, Niall. And I might get worse. You don’t want to deal with that again.”

Niall shakes his head. “How do you know what I want?”

“Look, I know you wouldn’t leave if I asked you to stay. You’re too good of a person.” 

Niall chuckles despite the seriousness of the situation. “Are you kidding me?” And when Liam looks at him blankly, Niall continues. “Liam, I didn’t go that hospital every day because I thought you missed me. I went because I missed you. It’s not like I’m doing you any favors. Liam, trust me, I can be really overbearing. Ask your mom. She tried to bounce me too, but I stick.” Niall says and smiles. Now he finally understands on what’s going on, he knows he has to convince Liam that he is here to stay and not going anywhere. 

Liam smiles at Niall and stares right into those beautiful blue eyes that he loves so much. “Thanks.” 

Niall smiles in return and pulls Liam to lean on his shoulder. “I’m always here for you, Liam.” 

 

**

 

Yasir enters the pub and heading straight towards the place that he knows where Mr. Payne would be. As soon as he sits on the stool beside Mr. Payne, the other man looks at him somberly. “We already gave you our decision.” 

Yasir nods. “I know. But listen, I’d like to say something to you, and then I won’t bother you again. I promise. Please.” 

Mr. Payne finally nods. “All right.” 

Yasir takes it as a cue for him to continue. “I know how scared you are. I also know that fear is only part of it. I think you’re frustrated, and you’re angry that you can’t fix this yourself. This weekend, Zayn had an accident, and I..I really thought that I’d lost him. And I didn’t handle it very well. He’s okay, but I was ashamed that I couldn’t help him, that I couldn’t take care of someone I love, someone who’s my responsibility.”

“I’m glad you son’s okay..but it’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not. But what is the same is that it’s impossible to be objective when your own child’s life is in danger. We’re not equipped for that as parents, as fathers.” Yasir says. “Mr. Payne, I believe that Liam’s life, or at least the likelihood of a truly meaningful life is in danger without this procedure. And I believe that I can see that more clearly than you. I need you to talk to Liam. We need to persuade him. I know how to help your son. Please. Please put your faith in me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and all the kudos and comments :) Really lifts up my spirit to write more :)


	23. Small Town's wonder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, guys. The final chapter of installation 1 of this series. All credits go to Everwood. Thanks to everyone who reads and comments and responses to this story. It's been such a pleasure. :)

“If I do nothing, I could just stroke out any day? Is that right? Just gone?” 

If Yasir is surprised by the sudden appearance of the teenage boy in front of him at his office, asking him question, he doesn’t show it. He just looks at the boy calmly and tries to reply with the best answer that he thinks he could give. 

“I wouldn’t have phrased it that way, but it is possible, yes.” 

“Or I could have my life back?” 

Yasir nods. “I hope so. There are an infinite number of outcomes, Liam.” 

“What about the recovery?” 

“It would be difficult.” Yasir says. “But if we succeed, it would only be motor skills that are impaired.” 

Liam nods. He seems to be satisfied with Yasir’s answers so far. “Which way do you think it’ll go?” 

“I don’t know.” Yasir answers truthfully. 

Liam looks at the doctor and swallows thickly. “Can you promise me that I won’t be a vegetable?” He asks. 

Yasir shakes his head. “No.” 

Liam lets out a deep breath before he starts to ask another question again. “Can you promise me that I won’t lose my mind or my memory?” 

“No.” 

A beat before Liam starts to talk again. “What can you promise me?” 

“Nothing.” Yasir answers with full honesty. It’s his job to tell the truth to his patient and not to sugarcoat anything. 

Liam stares at the doctor for a while before he nods. “Okay. I’m in.” He says before he turns around and leaves the doctor’s office. 

 

**

 

“Where are my children?” Yasir shouts from the kitchen as he opens the fridge. 

“Coming!” Harry’s voice is booming through the house, replying to his father’s call. 

“I don’t hear feet moving.” He says while he puts the rest of the foods into the paper bag. Zayn enters the kitchen, silent as usual and Yasir looks at his eldest son. “Hey, it’s a long drive. We said we’d be in the car by 6.” 

“No, you said we’d be in the car by 6. I said no such thing.” Zayn says grumpily. He hates being woken up in the early morning. 

Yasir chuckles as he sees Zayn grumpily filling his bagpack with stuffs. “You know, we’re visiting the university, not enrolling.” He says referring to stuffs that Zayn is planning to bring for the trip. 

“Well, last time I went on a road trip with you, I ended up here. Can’t be too careful.” He deadpans.

Yasir smirks at the same time as Harry announces his entrance to the kitchen with a loud yawn. “Hey, did you go to the bathroom yet?” Yasir asks. 

Harry rolls his eyes at his father. “Yes.” He replies shortly. 

“Do you need to go again?” 

Harry rolls his eyes, again. “No.” He replies whining at his father’s action. Sometimes he swears his father thinks he is still in the kindergarten. 

“You know, if I remember correctly, you have a bladder the size of a proton. I somehow get the feeling that I’m gonna have to pull over before we even hit the highway.” Yasir says. 

“Daddddd!!!” Harry whines and Zayn laughs out loud. Suddenly he doesn’t feel sleepy anymore. 

 

**

 

“So, how was the last day of school? Did I miss anything?” Liam asks Niall as they are sitting at the dinner table with both Horans and Paynes. 

Niall shakes his head. “No. Just a yearbook stuff. But they did announce where the seniors are having grad night.” 

“It’s gonna be so awesome.” Louis pipes into the conversation. “They rented a baseball stadium because Chris Boyle’s grandfather’s a jillionaire. Said he’d pay for the whole thing.” Louis tells them excitedly. 

“No kidding? That’s insane.” Liam says. 

Louis nods. “I know. We’re so screwed next year. We don’t have any jillionaires in our class.” 

Niall rolls his eyes at Louis’s words. “Well, because there’s no such thing.” Niall deadpans. Louis ignores the comment and Liam just smiles at the usual sibling’s banter. 

“So, what are your plans for tomorrow, Liam? Anything special?” Maura asks. 

“You know, actu..” Liam trails off and Niall looks at his mother with a wide eyes. “Mom.” He hisses quietly. 

“What’s wrong with that?” Maura asks, confused with Niall’s reaction. 

“Actually, I haven’t really thought of it. I guess I should, though, huh?” Liam says casually. 

“You might consider resting a bit before the surgery.” Bobby says, joining the conversation too. “Gather your strength.” 

Mr. Payne nods. “That’s probably a good idea.” 

Louis rolls his eyes at the adults. “Why? You’ll have plenty of time to rest when you get back.” He says as he looks at Liam. “Go do something fun, mud-wrestle an alligator.” Louis says as he raises his eyebrows suggestively.

Niall snorts. Of course Louis would suggest thing like that. “That’s so dumb. Why don’t we just do something normal, like go see a movie, maybe?” 

“Oh, movie. That’s special.” Louis retorts sarcastically. 

“That’s enough.” Bobby cut Louis off before the banter could escalate into something else. “I’m sure Liam can decide for himself how he wants to spend his…” Bobby seems to realize that he would probably going to say the wrong thing so he just trails off before he continues, “..tomorrow.” 

 

**

 

“I need to see Dr. Douglas. Remember him?” Yasir asks he glances at his son on the passenger seat. 

“He was your teacher, right?” 

Yasir nods before he continues. “Med students dreaded getting stuck with him. But whatever kind of doctor anybody ever thought I could become, Donald Douglas pushed me to be 10 times that. I learned more working with him than I’ve learned before or since. Back in London, whenever I took on a case that other surgeons deems impossible, I’d go visit Douglas. And I wouldn’t do it until we hammered out every avenue for success, if there was one. If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t perform the procedure.”

Zayn stares at his father. “So, that’s why we’re going?” He asks. “You want his approval to work on Liam?” 

Yasir glances between the road and his son. “I want his help.” He admits. 

“You didn’t ask for his help last time.” Zayn points out. 

“No, there was no question last time. We had nothing to lose.” 

 

**

 

Liam enters the living room and glances at the clock on the wall. It’s already past midnight yet the television is still on and he spots his father sitting on the couch. “Dad?” 

Mr. Payne turns to look at his son. “Liam. What are you doing up? Everything alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to get some water.” Liam says before his eyes catch on the glimpse of his own face on the television. “What are you doing?” He asks his father.

“Oh, I..I just couldn’t sleep. I found this old video on the coffee table. Your mom must have been watching it.” 

Liam nods before he moves to sit beside his father on the couch. “Isn’t this the trip to the creek last year?” 

Mr. Payne smiles and nods. “Yeah. You remember?” 

Liam shrugs, his eyes are still not leaving the screen. “Yeah, some of it, not much.” He says trying to figure out if he can fully remember about the trip. They sit in silence, watching the video before Liam starts to speak again. “Dad.” He calls out as he shifts to look at his father. 

“What?”

“Are you scared?” 

Mr. Payne sighs and takes a deep breath before he replies. “Yeah.” He admits. “You?” 

Liam nods. “Yeah. But not so much of the surgery. I’ve just got this feeling. You know when you leave the house in the morning and after about 10 minutes you’re in the car, you feel like you’ve left something on, like the television or the bathroom light?”

Mr. Payne smiles slightly and nods. “Yeah.” 

“And that feeling just nags you all day long.” Liam continues. “It’s just that feeling of forgetting or of leaving something behind. It’s kind of like that.” He admits truthfully. “Like I’m on my way to the hospital and I’ve left a light on somewhere. Does that make any sense?” 

“None of this makes any sense to me, Liam.” Mr. Payne says as he looks at his son. “I wish it did.” 

“You want to tell me what you’re scared of?” Liam asks quietly. 

Mr. Payne shakes his head. “No.” He says before he pulls Liam to lean on his chest and kisses Liam’s head softly.

 

**

 

“Donald. Donald. Would you please stop for a second?” Yasir calls out as he jogs slightly to catch his old professors. “I just want to talk to you. It’s been a very long drive.” 

“What did I say? The day you walked out on your gift would be the last day we talked.” The professor says. “I left no room for interpretation.” 

“We’ve been through too much together for this to be it.” 

“The same could be said for the doctors and patients that you left behind in London.” 

“What I left behind, was mine to leave behind.” Yasir says. 

The professor stops walking and turns to face Yasir. “What about my time? What about all the years I spent training you, investing in you? To hell with you. You’ve wasted my time, doctor.” He says before he turns around to leave again.

“Donald..”

“These are old conversations, Yasir. I’m not gonna have them again.” He says before he starts to walk away. 

Yasir tries to keep up with the older’s guy pace as he trails behind him. “I have a patient, a case I’ve been working on, a teenage boy who suffered a four-month coma.” That seems to get the professor’s attention as he stops walking and turns to face Yasir again. Yasir takes the action as a cue for him to continue. “Until I removed two bone fragments from the brainstem. Impossible, but it worked. He woke up.” 

“So why are you here?” 

“There have been complications. Symptoms from what we know know is a thrombus in the basilar artery. Result from the last procedure. He’s getting worse, Donald.”

The professor looks at Yasir for a while before he speaks up. “You want to go back in?” 

Yasir nods. “You tell me.” 

And that’s how they find themselves in the café later on, discussing about Liam’s condition. “His vascular anatomy is too torturous for a catheter approach.” Yasir says. “I have to go in transpetrosal.”

The professor raises his eyebrows. “Because the suboccipital..?” 

“Wouldn’t give me enough exposure for the basilar artery.”

“Okay. And then?” 

“And then, dissection to remove the semi-circular canal, drilling the mastoid..”

“Avoiding any damage to the facial nerve.” 

Yasir nods. “Which is why I dissect around the nerve and transpose it.” 

“What if there’s bleeding?”

“I control it with irrigation Malis, go through the arachnoid cyst, retract the cerebellum and get control of the vessel.” 

The professor nods in approval and smiles at Yasir. “All right. Good. So now you’re in.” 

“Now I’m in. At which point I make my incision and suction out the clot.”

“What if the vessel is stenotic?” The professor asks. 

“In that case, I use a stent.” Yasir replies. “It hasn’t been done in the basilar artery, but it’s worked in the vertebral.” 

“What if the suction causes damage to the intima and you cause a dissection?” 

“I won’t hit the wall.” 

“But if you do?” 

“I won’t.” Yasir replies confidently. 

The professor stares at Yasir. “You’ll have about six hours to restore blood supply before you lose him.” 

“I’d give heparin to reopen it.” 

The professor shakes his head. “There’s a history of trauma in that area. Heparin could cause severe re-bleeding.” 

“Then what?” 

“I don’t know.” Yasir sighs at the answer and the professor shakes his head. “Come on, if it was easy, people wouldn’t say, ‘it’s not a brain surgery.’” He says and both of them chuckle. “We’ll sleep on it. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

 

**

 

“Hurry up before dad hears you and calls the cops!” Louis hisses quietly. Niall rolls his eyes. “If I were going any faster, I’d be falling.” He says and Louis just huffs at him before he leaves Niall alone near the backyard. Niall wants to jump from high end of the windows pane like Louis did but his knees are dodgy already, he doesn’t want to be injured on his way out with Louis. Niall grins in triumph when suddenly he hears the voice behind him. 

“Niall!” Shit. He turns around to see his father with a flashlight in his hand as he looks at Niall. 

“Hi, dad.” Niall greets casually. 

“What’s going on?” Bobby asks. 

“How did you hear me?” Niall asks, ignoring his father’s question. 

“You’re as stealthy as a gaggle of gorillas.” Bobby deadpans. He glances behind Niall’s shoulder to see a car near the curb and he looks at Niall again. “Is this Liam’s idea of preoperative preparation? Co-opting other youths into committing vandalism?” 

Niall snorts. “I don’t know what you just said, but we’re not going to graffiti anything.” He might as well go with the flow as he is literally busted on going out after curfew without asking for his parents’ permission. 

“Do you realize what time is it? It’s tomorrow already. Liam’s surgery..”

“I know when his surgery is, dad. I just..” Niall says and sighs after that. “He just wanted a day. Just a day for us.” He continues as he looks at his father. “Okay?” 

Bobby looks at his son’s face and sighs in resignation. “Where is he taking you?” He asks. 

Niall shrugs. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell us about their plan.” 

Bobby nods. “All right.” He says before he pulls out his cellphone and gives it to Niall. “Take this and call every four hours. And get him back here in time for a decent night’s sleep.” 

Niall smiles as he looks at his dad and pulls the older guy into his hug. “Thanks, dad.” 

 

**

 

“Okay I got it, I got. We’re going to the swimming hole?” Niall says excitedly as they are all playing the guessing game in the car. Or most likely, Niall and Louis are the ones who are being played by Liam as Liam still refused to let them know about their destination. 

Liam shakes his head. “Wrong again. But thanks for playing. Besides, we passed that place about half an hour ago and the water is about two degrees right now.” 

Niall laughs and shakes his head. “All right, give me another..” 

“I know!” Louis suddenly exclaims. “Disneyland? It’s gotta be.” 

Niall rolls his eyes and snorts. “Disneyland, Louis, really? He said we’d be back before dinner.” 

“He didn’t say dinner tonight.” Louis retorts back. 

Liam laughs at both of their antiques and shakes his head. “We’re not going to Disneyland.” 

They laugh at that and Niall suddenly yells excitedly. “Oh, I love this song! Turn it up.” They are all singing along in the car to the song and for once, they forget about the issue that they are going to face when they get back home later. 

“So do you people give up?” Liam asks as the song ends and the radio’s volume goes down again. 

“Not a chance.” Louis replies. 

“Are you kidding me? We haven’t even started.” Niall says and Liam laughs again. “That’s what I like to hear.” Liam says. 

“Strip club?” Louis tries and Niall shakes his head. “Shut up, Lou.” Sometimes he wonders what the hell is going on in Louis’s mind. 

 

**

 

“So, this is your big surprise, mile-high pancakes.” Louis points out as they take their seats. “I’m a little disappointed.” He says bluntly. 

Liam laughs. “Chill out, man. This is just the halfway point.” He says before he turns to look at Niall. “What are you gonna get, babe?” 

Niall closes the menu and replies. “Chocolate-chip pancakes, a large orange juce and a side of bacon. Can you order for me?” He asks before he starts to stand up, heading to the toilet. 

Liam nods. “Yeah, okay.” 

“So tell me, what is the difference between ‘two eggs, any style, with bacon’ and ‘two scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage’? I mean, there’s gotta be a trick to this.” Louis asks. 

Liam laughs and looks at his bestfriend. “You know, I think you asked me the same question the last time we were here and the difference was a hash brown and 27 cents.” 

Louis’s eyes go wide as he looks back at Liam. “You remember that, huh?” 

Liam nods. “Yeah, you know. More and more. Little bits of things. It’s kind of like one of those pictures that are made up of the dots. The only thing that I can’t remember is the night of the accident.” He says. “Nothing. Blank, man.” Liam continues and Louis keeps silent. 

“Look I know you think it’s your fault.” Liam says. 

“That’s, like, because it is.” Louis says guiltily. 

Liam smiles at Louis. “Listen, you know..the thing is..you know, I remember the inflatable swimming pool that you had on your front lawn, and the frog that we got from the pet store that we killed because we thought he’d like the washing machine.” He says and laughs. 

Louis laughs as well as he remembers the memories. “Sparky.”

“And the first time that I slept over at your house. Oh, God…” Liam says as he still looks at Louis and his expression turns to somber before he continues. “You’re it, man. You’re my best friend. Whatever it was that happened that night, it’s all good between us.” 

Louis swallows back thickly and blinks back his tears because goddamnit he’s not going to cry at some diner over his bestfriend’s speech. But he smiles at Liam gratefully and Liam understands that. Louis clears his throat before he starts to look at the menu again. “So, which one costs the extra 27 cents? Or the one that’s 27 cents more.” And just like that, they both know that nothing can break their friendship apart. 

 

**

 

“Oh, dude, it’s a grad night!” Louis exclaims excitedly as they enter the field at the stadium. 

“Ding, ding, ding! Correct-a-mundo!” Liam replies. “I guess this is what a jillion pounds gets you these days. Not bad.” He says as he looks around. 

“But why?” Niall asks curiously as he looks at Liam’s face. 

“Seniors will be here in two hours.” Louis points out. “Faculty’s probably on the way.” 

“We’d better enjoy it while we got it, man.” Liam says, ignoring Niall’s question. “It’s our own private grad night for about half an hour.” He says and both of him and Louis starts to run around the field happily. 

Niall heads towards Liam when Louis takes off to the other side of the field. He waits until Liam looks at him before he starts to talk. “I know what you’re doing.” Niall says bluntly. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?” Liam replies casually but Niall is having none of it. 

“No. It’s not cool at all and I’m not gonna let you do it.” Niall says firmly. 

Liam sighs. “What are you getting so mad about?” He asks as he turns to walk away from Niall.

Niall follows Liam from behind and starts to talk again. “Grad night? This isn’t your graduation, Liam. Your graduation is next year.” Niall says as finally makes his way around Liam and stands in front of his boyfriend. “Do you understand? Next year.” 

“So I just wanted to have one day, you know? Just in case.” Liam replies truthfully. 

“In case nothing!” Niall exclaims. “I know why you wanted to have this. You could tie up the loose ends, get it all said and done with. Well, screw that, Liam. I won’t let you. You can’t finish anything with me today because we’re not done. You are not done.” Niall continues and shakes his head. “God, this is morbid.” He mutters. 

Liam lets Niall finishes before he starts to speak up. “You want morbid? Last night, I wrote out my will. Don’t you want to know what you get?” 

Niall shakes his head. “Please, I don’t want to do this.” Niall says as his voice breaks slightly at the thought of Liam would leave him, forever. 

“Listen. I know that you’re prepared for the surgery. I just don’t know if you’re really prepared for what comes afterwards.” 

“In case you don’t remember, I’ve already done that part.” 

Liam sighs and smiles sadly as he looks at Niall. “You know, I just wanted you to have something that was practically perfect in a movie kind of way.” He says as he puts Niall’s face between his hands and caressing Niall’s cheeks lovingly. “Something that you could hold on to.” 

“I want to hold on to you.” Niall whispers as he looks straight into Liam’s eyes. “That’s all I want, so if you think you can graduate with me tonight, if you think you can tie our relationship up in a neat little bow, you can’t. I’m sorry, but you can’t.” Niall continues as he feels a single tear rolls down on his cheek. “You have to come back, Liam.” 

Liam wipes away Niall’s tears and pulls Niall into his arms. “Okay, I will.” He whispers as Niall clutches on his shirt tightly. 

“Just come back.” Niall whispers, his voice cracks because of the tears and Liam feels his heart breaks at the fact that Niall is crying because of him. 

“I will, Niall. I will.” 

 

**

 

“I think my patience level has increased since we’ve moved to Mullingar.” Yasir says to his son as they are currently spending time to teach Zayn to drive and apparently, Zayn is not born as a good driver. 

“You mean, you actually have patience now?” Zayn deadpans. They both laugh after that before Zayn turns to face his father. “Dad..” He calls out. 

Yasir turns to look at Zayn. “Yes?” 

“I think we should go back to London.” Zayn says. 

“Why? You miss London that much?” 

Zayn shakes his head. “I’m not talking about going back for me. I mean, for you.”

Yasir raises his eyebrows. “I think I’m missing something here.” 

“It’d be okay with me if you wanted to go back to that life. Doing surgery all the time. I mean, I know we’d never see you, but..I get it now. I wouldn’t be angry with you. You’d be helping people. Doing what you’re supposed to do.” Zayn says. He had realized that his father really has the rare gift as they spent their weekend at his father’s professor’s house. Zayn had seen how great his father was and how every doctors came to see him because he was such a legend. It showed Zayn how great his father is as a surgeon and part of him feels guilty for keep giving his father a hard time before. 

“Who says I’m supposed to be doing that?” 

“I’m just saying, if you gave it all up for us, then..”

“I know what you’re saying and it really means a lot to me, Zayn, but you’re not the only reason I gave up being a surgeon. Don’t take that on.” Yasir says as he looks at his son. 

“And then I don’t get it. I mean, when we first moved here, I thought you were crazy. Now I know better, but…I mean, it makes me wonder all over again, why do it? Why give up the job you were obviously meant to do, move us to some town that we’ve never head of, where we have no friends, we have no family..”

Yasir smiles as his son keeps rambling before he cuts his son off. “I made a promise..” he says and pauses. “..to your mother.” When Zayn looks at him blankly, Yasir continues. “Years ago, we were talking once about what I would do if anything ever happened to her. I didn’t want to hear about itt, but she wouldn’t let up. She started telling me about some town she got stuck in on a train trip with her parents when she was a little girl. A town called Mullingar. She said it was the most beautiful place that she had ever seen and that if anything ever happened to her, I should go there. I don’t know if she really meant it. I don’t even know if I remember the conversation very well. But if she did mean it, even a little, I had to do it. I broke enough promises to her when she was still alive. It was the only promise left that I could still keep.” 

“Does anybody else know about this?” Zayn asks quietly, too speechless to response for other than that. 

Yasir shakes his head. “Nope.” 

“Do you realize how much easier this last year would have been if you’d just told me that?” 

Yasir smiles. “Probably.”

Zayn looks at his father in confusion. “So why didn’t you?” 

“I don’t know. It wasn’t supposed to be easy.” Yasir replies as he smiles at Zayn. 

 

**

 

“You can take this road the whole way.” Niall says as he gives the direction to Liam. 

“Yeah, I know, but..”

“Just turn left, it goes straight to Mullingar.” 

“Yeah, but that’s gonna take like three more hours. The highway’s a lot quicker.” Liam says. 

Niall smiles as he looks at Liam. “I know it is.” 

Liam’s eyes go wide as he realizes what Niall is trying to do and smiles. “Good idea. We’ll take the long way.” He says before he looks at sleeping form of Louis at the backseat. Both of them laugh at Louis’s open mouth. Liam watches as Niall’s face brighten when he smiles and he feels his heart flutters at the sight. “Niall.” 

Niall turns to look at him and smiles. “Yeah?” 

“I love you.” Liam blurts out as he stares right into Niall’s eyes and sees on how his boyfriend’s face starts to turn into a shade of red. 

Niall shakes his head fondly and smiles at Liam. “You’re such a jerk.” Translation in Niall’s life; I love you too. 

 

**

 

Zayn opens his front door only to find none other than Liam Payne is standing in front of him. 

“Hey.” Liam greets and Zayn replies with a simple, “hey,” in return. 

“Is your dad home?” Liam asks and Zayn nods, calling for his dad from upstairs. “He’s just talking to Harry, I guess. He’ll be down in second.” Zayn says. “Come on in.” 

Liam follows Zayn’s lead to the living room and there is still awkwardness lingered around them, especially after the last encounter they had with each other. “Do you want me to wait with you, or..?” Zayn trails off. 

Liam nods. “Yeah, sure.” He replies as he stands awkwardly. 

Zayn takes a step to stand in front of Liam and few seconds later, Liam rolls his eyes. “Okay. You don’t have to wait if you don’t want to.” 

Zayn shrugs. “I just..you know..I feel like..”

“I know how you feel. Believe me.” Liam replies. “I think I’ll just wait by myself.” 

Zayn nods. “Okay. See you.” He says before he turns to leave Liam on his own. 

It takes no longer than 5 minutes later when Yasir enters the living room. “Hey, Liam.” 

“Hey, Dr. Malik. Can I talk to you for a minute? It won’t take long.” 

Yasir nods as he takes a seat on the couch in front of Liam. “Sure, sure. How are you?”

“I’m good.” Liam replies and chuckles slightly. “You know, I had this insane day today. It was kind of amazing, actually. I mean, it felt long, but it went by so fast.”

“I know the feeling.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s a good feeling. You know, I’m not saying that you should feel this good every day but I think each day should have it’s own chance, you know? To make things..I don’t know, better? Right? You know what I mean.” Liam says before he pauses and his voice starts to crack slightly as he speaks up again. “When they put me out tomorrow, if I don’t wake up the way I’m supposed to, if I’m not me again, I don’t want to be.” He says as he looks at Yasir. “Don’t bring me back.” 

“Listen, Liam..”

“Please. Just promise me..that you won’t keep trying.” Liam pleads as silent tears make their ways down his cheek but he wipes them away. 

Yasir takes a deep breath as he looks at the teenager in front of him and nods. “I promise.” 

Liam seems to satisfy with the assurance and nods. He pulls out an envelope from his jacket and puts it on the coffee table. “I wrote it down, in case.”

“I understand. But everthing is going to be fine. This envelope will never get opened. Okay?” 

Liam lets out a shaky smile. “Okay.” 

 

**

 

“I told them if I have to wear a muumuu in public, I get to shave my own head.” Liam explains as his mother looks at him in front of the mirror. 

Mrs. Payne smiles sadly and nods. “Be careful.” 

Liam watches his mother’s reflection from the mirror and tries to give her a smile. “Didn’t you give me every single haircut I ever had until high school?” 

“And then one day you came home, announced that you needed a cooler barber, and fired me.” His mother replies and Liam chuckles at that. 

“Sorry.” Liam says. “Any chance you’ll take the job back?” He asks.

Mrs. Payne nods sadly. “Sit.” Once Liam is sitting, she leans down to kiss Liam’s head gently before she starts to cut off Liam’s hair. 

 

**

 

Niall smiles as he spots on the figure near the vending machine. “You want to share a Twix?” He asks and Zayn looks up from the machine and smiles at Niall. 

“Good memory.” Zayn says, referring to the last time they had spent their time together at the hospital, waiting for Liam’s surgery to finish. It seems like a dejavu. 

Niall nods. “Yeah.” He says and smiles. “We’re all sitting in the waiting room if you want to come and join us.” 

“Yeah, I know. I saw you guys. I just..” 

“I wanted to call you.” Niall says. “I didn’t think you’d want to come.” 

“I came for my dad.” Zayn replies, too quickly for his liking. “I mean, I figured I should be there for him.” 

Niall stares at Zayn and nods understandingly. “Things have definitely changed around here, huh?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Well, a year’s a long time. Change is bound to happen.” 

Niall smiles sadly at that comment. “Whether we like it or not.” 

“Yeah.” Zayn replies shortly. 

They stare at each other for few more seconds before Niall starts to avert his eyes and clears his throat. “I told everyone I’d get them drinks, so I should probably do that.” Niall says before he walks around Zayn to reach the next vending machine. 

Zayn turns around and looks at Niall. Somehow, he just can’t bear to see the frown look on Niall’s face. “Do you need some change?” He asks. 

Niall shakes his head. “No. I think I’m good. Thank you.” Niall replies without really looking at Zayn. 

“Are you sure? I’ve got a whole bunch.” Zayn insists. 

Niall’s frown turns into an amused smile at Zayn’s insistence and he grins at Zayn. “What?” Zayn asks confusingly. 

“It’s just..you. You’re still taking care of me.” Niall says and Zayn just smiles at that. It is the truth after all. Even after all the rows they’ve had, he just couldn’t stop care about Niall. “I thought you’d be in London already.” Niall points out. 

“I think I’m gonna skip London this year.” Zayn replies. “I mean, it’s the worst time to go anyway.” 

Niall looks at Zayn. “Really? I didn’t know that.” 

“Yeah. It’s super-humid. Maybe for Christmas or something.” 

Niall nods understandingly. “Yeah, it would probably be nice to go home for the holidays.” 

Zayn shrugs. “Yeah. Maybe. But..” 

“But what?” 

“I am home.” He says as he looks at Niall and smiles. Niall smiles in return and nods. “Good.” 

 

**

 

“Okay, you guys are doing great. Just stay with me here.” Yasir says to his assistansts in the operation room. “All right, I’m removing the clips.” 

“There’s no leak. It’s holding.” One of the assistants says. 

“Where’s the dural graft?” Yasir asks. 

“It’s here.” 

“May I have it, please?” He asks before suddenly the sounds of the monitor start to beep loudly. “What is that?” 

“The blood flow’s dropping in the vessel. Fast.” 

Yasir remains calm on the outside as he tries to check for the cause of the dropped blood flow. “It burst. Damn! Recrip proximally. Let’s go. Come on people, let’s go.” He urges as the beeps on the monitor is starting to beep crazily. “Okay, I want as many Gelfoams as quickly as possible, okay? As fast as you can bring them to me, keep them coming. I am gonna stuff this sucker.” He says to his assistants.

“That’s good. Here we go. Slow it down. Again. Good job. Here we go. Come on, hang in there, Liam. Come on, buddy. Slow it up. Good job. Here we go.” 

 

**

 

Zayn stops on what he is doing which is reading his comic as soon as his dad enters the waiting room. All of the people there, especially the Paynes and Niall, standing up abruptly, waiting for the news about Liam’s condition from his father. Zayn tries to decipher the emotion that come across his father’s face at the moment but fails. His father’s face seems indifference. “Liam…” As soon as his father says the name, and from the tone of his voice and the emotion that come across inside his eyes, Zayn thinks he finally knows everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm going to start writing the second installation maybe after I finish with other chaptered story, 'Only Life.'. Or maybe I could do both at the same time (I'm a multitasking person. haha.). I'm planning to sketch out on the other character's development (Harry, Louis etc.) so maybe it's going to take some time before I could starts posting the next installation. :)


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